
Class 

Book . 



Copyrights 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



DIVINE LAW 

And the Sabbath 

In All Ages 



L. K. MORGAN 

it 




GOSPEL TRUMPET COMPANY 
Anderson, Indiana : : U. S. A. 






Copyright, 1912, 

by 

L. K. Morgan. 



£CI.A305735 



PREFACE. 

My apology for placing this volume before 
the reading public will be better understood 
after the doctrine presented has been consid- 
ered. I entertain the conviction that the de- 
vout searcher for truth will appreciate the ef- 
fort to define the law of God, the law of Moses, 
the Sabbath, the origin of Sunday, and their 
relation to man in both dispensations — subjects 
which have provoked great controversy during 
the entire Christian era, but especially since 
the opening days of the Reformation. 

In the Introduction I state the basis upon 
which I proceeded with my investigation. I 
have conscientiously sought to free myself from 
preconceived ideas, previous teaching, and 
everything else that would hinder impartial 
study concerning the law of God. My motive 
has been to please God and to maintain a 
conscience void of offense regardless of con- 
sequences. I have had no ambition to stir up 
a wrangle over "Words or the law — a fact 



4 Preface. 

which, I hope, the reading of this little book 
will prove. 

Whatever good may come from this work 
to the consistent searcher for truth is now in 
the hands of a merciful God, who knows the 
hearts of all men. 

L. K. Morgan, 

Anderson, Ind. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface 3 

Introduction 7 

CHAPTEE I. 
God's Eight as Sovereign 9 

CHAPTEE II. 
The World in the Beginning 25 

CHAPTEE III. 
Civil Government 35 

CHAPTEE IV. 
The Eedeemer Promised 43 

CHAPTEE V. 
The Origin and the Eeligion of Egypt 61 

CHAPTEE VI. 
Israel in Egypt 67 

CHAPTEE VII. 
From Egypt to Sinai. 75 

CHAPTEE VIII. 
The Schoolmaster, or Sinaitic Covenant 91 

CHAPTEE IX. 
The Sabbath a Sign to Israel 109 

CHAPTEE X. 
God 's Memorial 121 

CHAPTEE XI. 
Our Eest 131 

CHAPTEE XII. 
The Eest that Eemaineth 149 

CHAPTEE XIII. 
God 's Eternal Purpose. 159 



6 Contents. 

CHAPTEE XIV. 
New Testament Instruction 191 

CHAPTEE XV. 
Sunday Venerated 207 

CHAPTEE XVI. 
The Truth Defended 225 

CHAPTEE XVII. 
The Eight Christian Attitude 245 



INTRODUCTION. 

You are entering upon the consideration of 
the law of God, a subject which has occupied 
the careful attention and study of many 
thoughtful students of the Holy Scriptures. 
Doctrines regarding it have widely differed. 
The distinction between the higher law, and 
the civil laws that belonged to Israel only, 
has not always been recognized. As a result, 
much error has been taught and believed. My 
purpose herein is to place before you that ex- 
position of the subject which is consistent with 
the spirit of truth and with the Bible text. 

To be supreme a law must be universally ap- 
plicable. It must meet the demands of govern* 
ment in all the domain of God, who was before 
all things and who is over all things. It must 
be the expression of the divine nature. Though 
a law or a code of laws not universally ap- 
plicable to all intelligences in all ages may 
have a local sphere of usefulness for a limited 
time, and though it may have relation in prin- 
ciple to the higher, or supreme, law, yet such 
must not be confounded with the supreme law, 
even should the law or code of laws be called 



8 Introduction. 

"God's law," "the law of God," or other like 
names. Proceeding in my study from this 
view concerning law and the relation of God 
to the creatures of his care, visible and invisi- 
ble, I came to the belief of the truths herein 
presented. 

From the bigot and the critic, who take 
pleasure in contention, I expect no mercy, 
though I hope to convince even such that the 
doctrine herein set forth is sound and Scrip- 
tural. Examine it in the white light of revela- 
tion and make proof thereby. Truth can not 
lose value by critical examination. Do not be 
prejudiced. To gain all the benefit possible 
from Bible study you must be impartial. Pre- 
judice not only hinders a person in supporting 
his own position, but also prevents him from 
receiving even the truth when it is taught by 
another. Some one has said that prejudice is 
like the cork in a bottle; before the contents 
can be poured out, the cork must be removed, 
and, likewise, if an empty bottle is to be filled. 
At the very beginning of this study, then, lay 
aside every hindrance to a fair consideration. 



Divine Law and 
the Sabbath. 



CHAPTER I. 

God's Right as Sovereign. 

"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the 
heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. The 
Lord most high is terrible; he is king over all 
the earth." Psa. 103: 19; 47:2. 

TTie above quoted words briefly state a fact 
the theory of which almost everybody is will- 
ing to acknowledge. Some, however, though 
they admit the sovereignty of God, are un- 
willing to obey; therefore they live in sin, or 
open rebellion. Another class, being wrongly 
informed by would-be teachers, are laboring 
under a yoke of creed-bondage in an effort to 
do that service which they are instructed will 
please Jehovah. Few really understand and 
do the will of God perfectly. If there has 
been a time "to loose the bands of wickedness, 



10 Divine Law 

to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed 
go free, to break every yoke," and to teach 
the people that their allegiance must be to 
God alone, it is now. God is the one to whom 
every knee must bow. Before his judgment 
we shall stand or fall. God has delegated no 
man to dictate the Christian duty of any of his 
little ones. 

As I reflect on the past, consider the pres- 
ent, and await the future, I am constrained to 
thank God more and more for the spirit of lov- 
ing forbearance that I recognize in the One 
with whom we have to deal and before whom 
we shall all soon be gathered in final judg- 
ment. Upon the authority of revelation I af- 
firm that now is the time allotted to you and me 
individually to prepare to meet our God. We 
can not retrace the past, but we can improve 
the present. Through Christ we may now 
have the knowledge of salvation by the re- 
mission of sins and may know that triumphant 
victory awaits us. 

The end will come — not just the end of 
our sojourn in this old world, but the end of 



and the Sabbath. 1 1 

all things which now are. I am glad that we 
are not left to wonder what will then be. It 
would not be hard for one who is spiritual to 
conjecture, but this we need not do, for we 
may read plainly — "Then cometh the end; 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom 
to God, even the Father; when he shall have 
put down all rule and all authority and power. 
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies 
under his feet. The last enemy that shall be 
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things 
under his feet. But when he saith all things 
are put under him, it is manifest that he is ex- 
cepted, which did put all things under him. 
And when all things shall be subdued unto 
him, then shall the Son also himself be sub- 
ject unto him that put all things under him, 
that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. 1 5 : 24-28. 
I will call your attention to four cardinal 
facts that you may find in these verses: 

1 . There is rule, power, and authority in 
this world that are manifestly opposed to Christ 
and God. 

2. Christ is now reigning over them with 



12 Divine Law 

the definite object "to put all enemies under 
his feet" — destroy them. 

3. At the conclusion of his reign in this 
world there will be remaining a kingdom — the 
church of God — which Christ will deliver up 
to God. 

4. Then God will be all in all. 

When that time comes, where shall we 
stand? Where will you? where shall I? The 
choice of destiny can not be made then. Now 
is the accepted time; now is the day of salva- 
tion. In this day of salvation you and I have 
the privilege to choose whether we shall be 
for or against the King of kings. 

Controversy and strife in matters of relig- 
ious faith may be witnessed on every hand, 
for the conflict referred to in the above is in 
religious and spiritual things. How the con- 
troversy arose we shall not discuss now, nor 
in this treatise on the law, though that ques- 
tion has to do with our subject. Incidentally 
we mention the question and touch such points 
as have direct bearing upon our subject. 

Hie confusion arising from the teaching of 



and the Sabbath. 13 

religious doctrines contrary to the truth in re- 
gard to the supreme law of God demands that 
the latter be defined in order that all may have 
the opportunity to be free from creed-servi- 
tude. We shall, therefore, consider the rela- 
tion of God to all things, and to men ; also what 
divine government consists of. Then we shall 
briefly contrast God's government with civil 
authority, idolatrous worship, and false re- 
ligions that profess to be Christian. 
God the ^ * s ver Y plain that God pur- 

creator. posed to teach us his relation 

to all things by what Moses through inspira- 
tion wrote in Gen. 1 : 1 — "In the beginning 
God created," etc. When John, nearly two 
thousand years later, wrote his Gospel, it was 
necessary for him to remind us that "in the 
beginning was . . . God." Call to mind any- 
thing you know in earth, sea, or sky, the great 
lights in the heavens, or even the heavens 
themselves; consider all living creatures, visible 
and invisible; and then remember that "in the 
beginning," a time when all creatures and 
things were not, God was. Paul says, "God 



14 Divine Law 

made heaven and earth and the sea and all 
things that therein are." John also speaks 
of God as he "who created heaven and all 
things that therein are, and the earth and 
the things that therein are." Paul further 
teaches that things "visible and invisible, 
whether they be thrones or dominions, or 
principalities or powers, all things were crea- 
ted by him [Christ] and for him, and he is 
before all things, and by him all things con- 
sist [or hold together]." Language could not 
be clearer., These quotations have been given 
merely to establish that the territory over which 
God has dominion is more vast than our finite 
minds can grasp. 

It is important at the present that we clearly 
understand that before territory was created, 
whether heavenly or earthly, before any crea- 
ture was made to inhabit the seen or unseen 
worlds, our God existed. Before man was 
created, provisions necessary to sustain his 
life had to be provided. With God, however, 
it was not so. He was before all things and 
he is self-existent. This fact is too great for 



and the Sabbath. 15 

us to comprehend. Blessed is the man who 
believes it. 
ood's purpose Occupying such a relation to 
in creation. a j| t hj ngS5 God in his very na- 

ture was supreme. His word, his law, his 
will, were above all things. Nothing could 
exist except by his pleasure. Every thing and 
every creature, when coming first from the 
hand of the Creator, could have no purpose for 
existence other than that to glorify God. The 
purpose for the existence of every thing, 
whether animate or inanimate, whether heav- 
enly or earthly, was to magnify the Creator. 
This could be done only so long as the crea- 
tures remained in harmony with the purpose of 
their creation. Before any thing was given 
form and before any creature was given life, 
the purpose for their existence was planned. 
This truth is clearly set forth in the texts pre- 
viously quoted. 

Harmony or correspondence between God 
and his creation could result in nothing less than 
the same relation among the creatures them- 
selves. Therefore, so long as they should con- 



16 Divine Law 

tinue to fill the purpose for which they were 
made, perfect unity would exist throughout the 
universe of God. The very nature of God 
would be manifested in every creature pos- 
sessing intelligence. It could not be other- 
wise. 
The Character The character of God and his 

of God's law. ] aw can nQt differ J knQW 

the one is to understand the other. The law 
establishes relationship between creature and 
Creator, for without law God could not be- 
come known. 

God is love. This fact is often repeated in 
the Word. In our examination of God's deal- 
ings with his creatures we shall find this charac- 
teristic in everything. Moreover, since God is 
love and in him is necessarily the very embodi- 
ment of his law, every thing and every created 
intelligence must be filled with the same na- 
ture in order to render worthy praise and give 
him the glory. Hence since God is love and man 
was created for God's glory, it follows that by 
creation love must have been man's very na- 
ture — the very love, the nature, of God him- 



and the Sabbath. 1 7 

self. This we shall clearly show. But first 
let us consider the following analysis of love 
and thus prove that love is a law, the supreme 
law, the term defining the character of God. 
tove The apostle Paul, through the 

Element l. power given him by God, has 

done much to help us to understand something 
about love. In three short verses he has de- 
scribed the various elements embraced in a 
character comprehended by this little word. 
Beginning with verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 13, 
he contrasts love with other things, clearly 
showing that, though we might possess all at- 
tainments possible to men from a human stand- 
point, and though we might sacrifice all our 
possessions and even life itself, yet unless our 
motive were prompted by love, which he be- 
gins to define in the fourth verse, we should 
not be in any wise profited. 

The first element is patience. Paul expresses 
it thus: "Love suffereth long." 
tove Next, "It is kind." Kind- 

Eiement 2. ness j s act j ve } ove One can 

not have love without manifesting it; for the 



18 Divine Law 

law of love demands expenditure of effort — 
effort put forth out of pure, kind feeling for 
the recipient; effort that can not be remunera- 
ted by the one who receives the benefit. How 
easily we may determine whether a person is 
filled with love, by impartially observing the 
acts of his every-day life! 
tove "Love envieth not." Here 

Element 3. generosity is expressed. Envy 

is the feeling of self-centered ill-will. Gener- 
osity prompts one to render all possible assist- 
ance, comfort, and pleasure, without being 
prompted by the hope of personal benefit. Nor 
does one who envies not, crave for popularity. 
Love causes a person to be contented with his 
station in life even though it be a humble 
one. 
nove "Love vaunteth not itself, is 

Element 4. nQt puffed up » jj^ beau- 

tifully describes the grace of humility. Love 
not only prompts one to do for another with 
perfect generosity, but also makes him content 
to be unknown and prevents him from exalted 
feeling when praised. 



and the Sabbath. 19 

novo "Doth not behave itself im- 

plement s. seemly." No words could 

more completely express the grace of courtesy. 
Love makes its presence felt by courteous de- 
portment. A person who, when measured 
among those of intellectual attainment would 
be most obscure, might prove himself the great- 
est in society if a possessor of the grace which 
"doth not behave itself unseemly." 
love "Seeketh not her own." Thus 

Element e. j las j nS pj ra tJon expressed un- 

selfishness. Love does not seek even that 
which is her own ; nor is this all : love does not 
have to seek her own against the selfishness of 
contrary spirits, for selfishness destroys those 
who cherish it. Love, therefore, is manifested 
as not contending even for her own rights. 
Those who are unselfish in spirit are content 
to be unobserved even when performing their 
most praiseworthy deeds. 
love "Is not provoked." This is 

Element 7. ^ e l eme nt of good temper. 

However may go life's battles, whatever may 
arise seemingly to defeat purposes, the law of 



20 Divine Law 

love permits no ill temper. Love is ever the 
same. It is patient, kind, courteous, generous, 
and humble. Under the most severe trials, 
love maintains the same temper, the same good 
will, 
love "Thinketh no evil." Evil is 

Element 8. destructive ; love is creative. 

Love can not think evil. Before an evil thought 
can enter the heart filled with love, the na- 
ture must be changed. The word best ex- 
pressing the character of one who thinks no 
evil is guilelessness — a term meaning freedom 
from guile, deceit, duplicity. There is no sus- 
picion or superstition in one who has this grace 
perfected. By the spirit of love one readily 
recognizes it in others who possess the grace. 
Where love is there can be no evil surmising 
as to what some one else may feel and think. 
One either knows or does not know a thing. 
A Christian spends no time in questioning. One 
who thinks evil is "shriveled up" and small; he 
is self-centered — selfish. Love has an ex- 
panding and ennobling influence. It causes one 
to view in the most hopeful light every action 



and the Sabbath. 21 

of his fellow men. It delights to live in this 
state of mind; indeed, it can not live in any 

other. 
love "Rejoices not in iniquity." 

Element 9. Could words better express 

obedience to law? When love animates the 
soul, there can not be rejoicing in iniquity — 
lawlessness, absence of just dealing. This ele- 
ment is faithfulness. Let evil arise on every 
side, love ever remains the same, steadfast to 
all eternity. 
!, ove "Rejoices in the truth." Here 

Element 10. ; g foe last element compre- 
hended in the little word "love" as given in 
this scripture. This element may be known as 
sincerity. Love can not endure a falsehood. 
Love is not a thing of enthusiastic emotion, but 
rejoices in that which is firm, rich, strong, con- 
sistent, eternal.* 

The latter part of the chapter is a defense of 
law, showing that when every contrary ele- 

*Due credit is hereby acknowledged for the benefit 
derived from the reading- of Henry Drummond's lit- 
tle book — "The Greatest Thing- in the World." His 
beautiful expository thoughts on 1 Corinthians 13 were 
helpful in preparing our definition of love. 



22 Divine Law 

ment has passed away, love will still remain; 
for in love is truth and light. As the apostle 
John expresses it, "That light is the life of 
men." 

Does God possess these ele- 

GoI-sYaw. ments b y which Paul defin es 

the character of love} and if 

so, do they adequately define the great eternal 
One? God certainly does embody all that we 
have said about love in our feeble attempt to 
describe it; but how far short have we come 
of telling only a little of Him whom we love 
and honor, the spirit of reverence for him alone 
can know. The thought we wish to leave with 
you is this: that love is a law operating from 
within, actuating a continous flow of benefit to 
all who may come within the range of its in- 
fluence. Love understands how, and is of such 
a nature as to compel one to do anything and 
everything in so patient, kind, generous, hum- 
ble, courteous, unselfish, good-tempered, guile- 
less, faithful, and sincere a way that one is 
irresistibly constrained either to bow the knee 
in adoration to God, the source of love, or to 



and the Sabbath. 23 

turn to the place of the damned with those who 
are incorrigibly wicked, 
love is Whatever else may be said 

a taw - about God and his law by the 

more erudite scribe, the one expression, "Love," 
will include. To further emphasize the fact 
that love is a law requires only that we cite 
the injunction of the beloved John, who wrote, 
"For this is the message [commandment, mar- 
gin] that ye heard from the beginning that ye 
love one another" ; or the Master's own words, 
which he preached throughout the time of his 
earthly ministry: "A new commandment I give 
unto you that ye love one another as I have 
loved you." And again, "This is my com- 
mandment, that ye love one another as I have 
loved you." Thus love, with all that it im- 
plies, is made a standard of righteousness, the 
command that we are to obey. And since God 
is the embodiment of love, he is the complete 
expression of the perfect and supreme law. 
His likeness and image in a created being could 
convey no other impression to the mind than 
that of the graces above mentioned, exemplified 



24 Divine Law 

in living character — a character going about 
doing good to others without the least self- 
centered interest. Every act, every thought of 
God toward man finds expression in loving 
deeds continually. The magnitude of his good- 
ness is beautifully told in the following verse: 

"Could we with ink the ocean fill, 

Were all the skies of parchment made, 
Were ever)) blade of grass a quill 

And every man a scribe by trade, 
To write the love of God to man 

Would drain the ocean dry, 
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, 

Though stretched from earth to sky*" 



and the Sabbath. 25 

CHAPTER II. 
The World in the Beginning. 

Did Adam, when given life by the Creator, 
receive the nature and character of God? Let 
us examine the evidence in order that we may 
know. "And God said, Let us make man in 
our image, after our likeness." Gen. 1 : 26. 
As we have observed before, all things were 
created for the purpose of bringing glory to 
God (Eph. 3:9-11; Rev. 4:11); therefore 
the expression in this text, "make man in our 
image, after our likeness," can mean nothing 
less than that God gave Adam by creation 
the very nature of God himself. Adam did 
not have to become perfect in love and obedi- 
ence after he was made. In the very work 
of creation he was made perfect without effort 
on his part. Indeed, is it not self-evident that 
he could have had no part in the work of mak- 
ing himself one thing or another? As he was 
created by the hand of God from the dust of 



26 Divine Law 

the earth, the only first thing he could do or 
be was written in every fiber of his nature by 
the God of all things, who said, "In the image 
of God created he him." 

It is evident, therefore, that Adam began 
his existence with life, and that his life was an 
expression of God's likeness and image. His 
life was not, as some would have us believe, 
given to him on the terms of obedience to some 
code of laws. The very law of life, the law 
of love, actuated the first impulse of his nature ; 
and if there was one thing that he could choose 
and that in his creation was not in his na- 
ture, it was that which he later did choose — 
sin. 
The Gift of Before leaving this point we 

Divine Grace. w j sh lQ make J t c ] ear ^ man 

received his life in the beginning by the act of 
divine grace or favor. Life was manifestly a 
gift from God. He could give or withhold. 
God chose to give life to the creature man, in 
order that he might magnify the glory of God. 
No man can teach by divine right that man 
merited life through obedience to law nor that 



and the Sabbath. 27 

God was under obligations to give life to him. 
The life of Adam came through the favor of 
God — divine grace. Note also Paul's argu- 
ment in Eph. 2:8, 9. Life "is the gift of 
God." 

Whether the life that Adam received at 
creation made him immortal, whether he was 
neither made mortal nor made immortal, does 
not concern the subject that we are discussing. 
The theory that Adam could purchase eternal 
life — the gift of God — through obedience to 
law has in itself such a palpable inconsistency 
that argument against the theory would seem 
almost unnecessary. It is true that the doc- 
trine of man's nature, present and future, must 
be made clear because of prevalent false teach- 
ing, but we must not here deviate to give it 
notice. 

Divine It is plain that before sin en- 

Government in s 

tms world. tered into the world man s 
every action and emotion was modified by the 
law of love imparted to him by God, so that 
in this respect he was equal with the Creator. 
Man was made, however, to occupy a subor- 



28 Divine Law 

dinate plane. The Psalmist says, "Thou hast 
made him a little lower than the angels, and 
hast crowned him with glory and honor. 
Psalms 8; Hebrew 2. God, who had made 
man a perfect being, provided for him a per- 
fect home and profitable employment to oc- 
cupy his time. This made necessary such laws, 
operative within man's subordinate sphere, as 
would define the will of God for the home 
which he had made. 

Did God supply the needed code? Yes, 
in every detail. When all things were ready, 
God "took the man and put him into the gar- 
den of Eden to dress it and keep it" (Gen. 
2 : 15). The instruction to dress and keep the 
garden was just as definitely a law requiring 
obedience as the command in verses 16 and 
1 7 regarding the forbidden fruit. Thus we see 
that Adam was under a law regulating his tem- 
poral affairs. Did he enter upon his work will- 
ingly? Yes. His nature was made submis- 
sive to it by the supreme law — the law of 
love — written in his members. This duty to 
keep the garden, to replenish the earth, to sub- 



and the Sabbath. 29 

due it, and to have dominion included all that 
is said about the establishment of divine gov- 
ernment in the subordinate sphere which Adam 
was to occupy. Every law, you will note, 
came from God. 
Enforcement Man had a self-governing na- 

of Law 

unnecessary. ture while he remained in har- 
mony with God. It was the outworking of 
love — that law which was created in his mem- 
bers. That nature, described in words, finds 
expression in the Sermon on the Mount: "All 
things whatsoever ye would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them." Matt. 
7: 12. The power to perform righteously the 
principles of this law was given to Adam by 
God. Any number of men having the same 
nature as Adam could dwell together harmoni- 
ously without a ruler or overseer to enforce 
law. Thus it will be seen that the principles 
of divine government are within the individual 
and keep him in a perfectly righteous rela- 
tion with everybody and everything within the 
range of his influence. The subjects of divine 
government are in their character divine crea- 



30 Divine Law 

tures; and while they so remain, they can, in 

the very nature of things, do nothing but that 

which is in harmony with the divine character. 

obedience to But obedience to God was 

God Not 

compulsory. not compulsory upon Adam. 
He was left free to will and to do — a free 
moral agent. Love demanded that he be made 
thus. While Adam was made with a char- 
acter to love, the privilege to hate could not 
be withheld. Between God and man there 
had to be a relation that would fully manifest 
the character of love to man's intelligence; 
hence Adam had of necessity to be left free 
to choose, regardless of results, a nature con- 
trary to the one in which he was created. Hie 
opposite of love and obedience is disobedience 
and death. Love demanded that the way to 
death be left open. Not only so; the way to 
death must not be hidden as if God were fear- 
ful that Adam would choose it. It must not 
be left so that the inquiring mind of man, find- 
ing it by chance, would seek to investigate it. 
No, the way of death must be placed in the 
very midst of the garden so there could be 



and the Sabbath. 31 

no possible excuse to investigate it. And, 
furthermore, the way to avoid it must be plainly 
pointed out, and all necessary instructions re- 
garding it be given. All this God did in the 
day when he created man. 

Man Must be "Jo illustrate the point we 

Left Free 

to Choose. have just discussed, we will 

suppose the following example: A father, who 
desires his children to obey him out of love, 
could not know whether the service rendered was 
voluntary or not, unless the children had an op- 
portunity to do otherwise. Suppose he knows 
that immediately outside of the room in which 
he has placed them there is fearful danger. 
He tells them of his love for them, places in 
the room everything possible for their com- 
fort and entertainment, and tells them to re- 
main inside, but leaves no possible way for 
them to go out. On returning to them after 
a time, could the father say, "My children have 
so loved me that they remained where I placed 
them"? Hardly. They could not have done 
otherwise than remain; they could not have 
exercised a choice. But suppose that the fa- 



32 Divine Law 

ther had left the door open and had told them 
of the fearful danger just outside, into which 
they would fall immediately upon passing out; 
that temptation to leave the room came from 
an attractive display of some kind and through 
a person who demanded belief in a lie; and 
that belief in that lie against the parent must 
mark the first step toward leaving the room. 
Then if upon his return the father should find 
his children enjoying the benefits and privileges 
provided, he could with assurance know that 
his will had been regarded and that his chil- 
dren had, out of pure love, remained in har- 
mony with his desires. After this manner was 
Adam's loyalty tested. 
God instructed Having finished the work of 
Adam. arranging the paradise home, 

God "took the man and put him into the gar- 
den of Eden." He then instructed him with 
reference to all that was therein and told him 
to dress and keep the garden in its original 
beauty. In their tour of inspection they came 
to the tree of knowledge of good and evil "in 
the midst of the garden." Here was the way 



and the Sabbath. 33 

of danger — the way to misery and death. Upon 
their reaching it, "the Lord commanded the 
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou 
mayest freely eat : but of the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of 
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou 
shalt surely die." Gen. 2 : 16, 17. Thus God 
himself taught Adam his will, and left him 
free to perform it. Duty was defined and the 
way was left open that Adam might choose 
a character different from that which he was 
given in creation. 

The law concerning this tree we should un- 
derstand as being admonitory, as defining the 
results of disloyalty — departure from love — 
the belief of a lie — and as being provided to 
protect against choosing a nature of sin. Love 
fully manifested itself in making every pro- 
vision necessary to life and happiness, and then 
clearly defined the results that would follow 
should the way of death be pursued. With 
God's love thus exemplified, can we not hear 
even the very nature of things reverberating 
with these words? "If ye love me, keep my 



34 Divine Law 

commandments; and this is my commandment 
that ye love one another. All things whatso- 
ever ye would that men should do to you, do 
ye even so to them." Such is divine govern- 
ment. Such is the government of God. 



and the Sabbath. 35 

CHAPTER III. 

Civil Government. 

The essentials of civil and of divine govern- 
ment differ greatly. We have found that in 
divine government the disposition to obey is 
created in the nature of each individual that 
enjoys its privileges. We shall find that in 
civil government the existing conditions de- 
mand laws limiting the conduct of the sub- 
jects because among them are some who are 
essentially evil. The power of civil govern- 
ment may be defined as the exercise of author- 
ity by a ruler according to prescribed limita- 
tions and consent of the people within a given 
jurisdiction. Civil government has existed in 
all stages of human society and in various 
forms, such as oligarchy, monarchy, democracy, 
etc. Instead of the law of love being written 
in the heart of each individual member of the 
government, the sinful condition of the human 
heart demands that a code of laws be provided 
for the restriction of the subjects. These laws 



36 Divine Law 

are placed in the hands of men, delegated and 
empowered by the majority will of the people 
over whom they rule, for enforcement. So long 
as a subject of a civil power abides by the 
requirements of the law, he "p urc hases" for 
himself the right to the protection provided. He 
obeys the laws, or lives within its limi- 
tions, merely because of the benefits that may 
be derived from obedience. 
Requisites for Within a civil government we 

Civil 

Government. find territory and people, or 
inhabitants. Without territory in which to 
live we could not have a civil government. 
Therefore the first thing of importance for the 
existence of a government among men is ter- 
ritory ; next there must be people. Subsequently 
to territory and people, law is necessary — nec- 
essary for governing relationship. These three 
features, namely, territory, people, and laws, 
are indispensable to civil government. 

Had sin never entered the world, there would 
have been no occasion for the administration of 
human authority over men. Nor may we hope 
that men will ever be brought nearer God 



and the Sabbath. 37 

through the enforcement of either civil or re- 
ligious law so long as the heart remains un- 
changed. It is not law, but love, that draws 
out the heart's affection. 
The Tendency When men refuse to be gov- 
of tms world. ernec J by the supreme law of 

God — the law of love — their natural moral 
tendency is toward total depravity. Civil gov- 
ernment can not save them from this. The 
fact is very easily demonstrated that when men 
refuse the government of God their tendency is 
toward incorrigible wickedness. To illus- 
trate, let us suppose that a man, utterly refus- 
ing to obey the laws, withdraws from a har- 
monious community, such as God designed and 
designated in the beginning, but, not being able, 
as we shall consider, to go beyond the bounds 
of that government, is obliged to remain within 
the jurisdiction of its laws. He is now on his 
way to ruin. Let a number of men of the 
same mind leave this just government and join 
him. These, now, are all of the same sinful 
mind, and even though they would, they can 
not live in perfect harmony, for their nature 



38 Divine Lav> 

leads them to be rebellious. When they, or 
any of them, agree to obey a law of perfect 
harmony they will return to where the rightful 
ruler governs. All men through Adam have 
departed from God (see Rom. 5: 12), and 
hence they. are sinners by nature. Toward 
greater moral depravity is the tendency of this 
world. Utter confusion and final destruction 
are its doom. 

a raise Hope. Adam lost his divine charac- 
ter through sin, and thus became incapable of 
self-government. Hence when men began to 
multiply upon earth, it became necessary to 
have civil laws to provide protection from evil- 
doers and to limit social and civil privileges. 
Many men are today deceived by the false 
hope of "better times," when men will become 
righteous because of better government. They 
hope for a time of peace, of equal rights, 
the millennium. Reader, if you are cher- 
ishing such a thought, may God bless you 
by the removal of it. Some teach that, since 
man has learned from past experience about 
better forms of civil government, he may finally 



and the Sabbath. 39 

cope with wrong-doing and establish peace 
on earth through the influence of civil govern- 
ment instead of through a change of heart. 
O reader, escape the snare of the devil. 

True, we have devised a better way of ad- 
ministering civil law by national authority. We 
have learned the terrors of monarchy and olig- 
archy. At the present many nations are ex- 
periencing the benefits of democracy, >vhile 
some men fondly indulge the day-dream that 
the world will be made better under the rule 
of Socialism ; but history demonstrates that pro- 
portionately as we have learned how to cope 
with increasing evil, lawlessness as regards the 
righteousness of God has increased. The in- 
troduction of better forms of government and 
of laws calculated more perfectly to regulate 
the civil relations of society does not turn men 
to God. The Scripture says, "Evil men and 
seducers shall wax worse and worse." 2 Tim, 
3: 13. In civil affairs the passing of more 
stringent laws is the signal, as though it were 
the ringing of a school-bell, to a course of 
study on how to evade obedience and remain 



40 Divine Law 

unobserved. Thus the tendency of the un- 
christian world is from bad to worse. Perhaps 
it would not be speculative to predict that the 
end of the world will come at a time when man 
has reached the limit of his power to govern 
and restrict the unregenerate heart by the most 
approved form of civil restraint. 

In view of these facts one hope of salvation 
today presents itself. It is the hope of the 
gospel, which was made in promise to Adam 
and is now made sure through the shed blood 
of Christ. To this hope we point you while 
we briefly mention some of the world's his- 
tory at the beginning. 
Early civil The first organized national 

Government. authority in this world of 
which we have authentic history is that of 
Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-11). Though this was 
evidently a minor form of government, yet it 
provided for certain restrictions of evil men in 
several cities which are mentioned. Gen. 10: 
11, 12 presents Ashur as building the second 
government in earth. We might at length fol- 
low the history of governments of earth from 



and the Sabbath. 41 

this early date to our present time; but what 
we have said may suffice to illustrate how civil 
powers began. From that early date to the 
present better forms of national government 
have been instituted, but all the way along 
only the gift of divine grace has proved the 
means of salvation. So it has ever been; so 
it will be until God's purpose for man has been 
accomplished. 

The contrast. Space does not permit, nor is 
it important, that we further show that civil 
government has been provided for the restric- 
tion of evil until the close of the gospel work 
in the earth, and that this is its only mission. 
We shall, therefore, merely contrast the na- 
ture of the unregenerate man with the char- 
acter of man saved by the grace of God. In 
the latter case God writes his law of love in 
the heart. This divine work transforms the 
nature and makes him obedient to anything 
that will bless another. On the other hand, 
unchristian men keep the civil law and do with 
a selfish motive whatever good thing they may 
perform. They expect a personal benefit. At 



42 Divine Law 

first thought, this may appear to be a little ex- 
aggerated ; but if you will note the outworking 
of the evil heart, you will see that the results 
justify our statement. It is well to understand 
this contrast between civil and divine law and 
government, in order that we may profit by 
what follows. 



and the Sabbath. 43 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Redeemer Promised. 

To Adam, after his fall, the promise was 
made that he and all of his race who would 
depart from evil should be saved through the 
merits of Christ the Redeemer (Gen. 3: 15). 
The acceptance of this promise did not restore 
in Adam the divine nature; but from a study 
of the record it appears that God's design, from 
the time the promise was given, was that those 
who accepted and believed it should remain 
separate and distinct from unbelievers — from 
those who continued in the rejection of God 
and of his proffered grace. 

woan and Passing rapidly over history, 

Abraham. we finc | ^ ; n Noah > s day 

the deluge destroyed all the world with the 
exception of Noah and his family. Through 
that man of God the benefits of the promise 
(Gen. 3: 15) made to Adam were perpetu- 
ated (Gen. 6: 18). Wickedness again in- 
creased, and after a few generations, God 



44 Divine Law 

called Abraham to leave those who followed 
worldly practises. To him God said, "I will 
establish my covenant between me and thee." 
Gen. 17:7. Up to the time of Abraham 
there is no record of national jurisdiction for 
God's children, but in the Abrahamic cove- 
nant there is a promise that God would at 
some time establish Abraham's posterity within 
their own land. This promise naturally pro- 
vided for the giving of a separate code of laws 
— another covenant. 
The Promise The Lord did not establish 

and tne Law. the nat j on ^ Qnce J he g ib j e 

record of the interim between the promise and 
the giving of the national law is brief, but is 
filled with interesting facts. In Gal. 3: 17 
Paul tells us that "the law" was given four 
hundred and thirty years after the covenant, 
and in no way modified it. He draws a dis- 
tinct contrast between "the law" and the cove- 
nant made with Abraham. Notice the words : 
"And this I say, that the covenant, that was 
confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, 
which was four hundred and thirty years af- 



and the Sabbath. 45 

ter, can not disannul, that it should make the 
promise of none effect." Notice that Paul 
definitely says that if the terms of "the law" 
are considered the fulfilment of the covenant 
made with Abraham, the effect of that cove- 
nant is destroyed. He clearly defines that the 
covenant with Abraham answered for one 
thing, and that the law, given four hundred and 
thirty years after, answered a distinct purpose 
of its own. The law to which Paul refers 
is the one given at Sinai. 
Fanra Lest the Galatian brethren 

Argument. mig j lt f ai j Q f comprehending 

this distinction between the promise made to 
Abraham and the law covenant made with his 
descendants as a nation, Paul introduces an 
allegory (chap. 4:21). The four principal 
characters in this allegory are Hagar, Ishmael, 
Sarah, and Isaac. Hagar and Sarah are 
plainly stated to represent two covenants. Each 
of these covenants has a law for the govern- 
ment of the subjects who come within its bene- 
fits. Hagar represents the covenant made at 
Sinai in Arabia (verse 25), with established 



46 Divine Law 

headquarters later in Jerusalem, the capital 
city of Palestine. Her children, Paul says, 
were in bondage. The nature of the bondage 
here spoken of is not generally understood. 

We have already introduced the thought 
that civil law is made for the restriction of 
evil men, or, in other words, to limit men from 
doing according to the inclination of their car- 
nal hearts. The children of Abraham were 
not different from Gentiles in this respect, for 
all were born in sin — had carnal hearts. Nor 
were they made righteous by obeying the law, 
"for the law made nothing perfect" (Heb. 7: 
19). Consequently, perfect conformity to the 
law of Israel did not, neither could, change, or 
make perfect, the heart. 
Nature of the The law given to Israel at 
carnal Heart. S inai prescribed civil and re- 
ligious duties. These the Jews were expected 
to be acquainted with and perform. Every 
act of their life was regulated, not by what was 
written in the heart, but by what was written 
in the law. It was necessary for them to have 
teachers to instruct them in the law and to 



and the Sabbath. 47 

see that it was faithfully observed. The law 
continually stood ready to condemn them for 
any contrary thing they might do. Thus the 
law was a source of bondage. It restricted 
them. Even those who kept the law perfectly 
were not made subject to it through such obedi- 
ence; for that law made nothing perfect — 
brought nothing to perfection. As a conse- 
quence, their natural heart, though constantly 
guarded against evil, brought them in conflict 
with, and in bondage to, the supreme law at 
all times. 
Paul's This is the thought that Paul 

Experience. wishes to convey by the lan- 

guage in Gal. 4: 25. Describing his own con- 
dition before he was made free from sin through 
the blood of the everlasting covenant, he says 
"For I know that in me dwelleth no good 
thing: for to ivill is present with me, but how 
to perform that which is good I find not." Rom. 
7:18. Thus it was with the poor Jew who 
tried to get righteousness out of obedience to 
the law but did not discern the demand of the 
basic principles of the law nor what obedience 



48 Divine Lav> 

to the law signified. The Sinaitic law stood as 
authority over him to execute judgment, and 
thus every disobedience brought him into bond- 
age. It was to the Jew, the law that demanded 
death ; for it embraced the sanctions of justice, 
which had been operative in the higher law 
from the foundation of the world (Rom. 5: 
13). 

From Heb. 9: 13, 14 we learn that the sac- 
rifices offered under the law sanctified to the 
purifying of the flesh. That is, so long as the 
penitent sinner (because sin is displeasing to 
God) came with his offering in accordance 
to the law, he was purged from his guilt. Nev- 
ertheless, he could see that as he was higher 
than the beast which he offered, justice de- 
manded a better sacrifice for his sin, which was 
a violation not only of the national code but 
also of the supreme law. His conscience of 
sin, therefore, remained even after he had com- 
plied with the requirements of the temporal 
law. Although in a temporal way, after the 
manner of the law, in those things which he 
could do in the flesh, he was free from con- 



and the Sabbath. 49 

demnation, it was clear that a high and holy 
God could not accept the offering of an ani- 
mal, which is so much lower than man, a con- 
scious and volitional being, as adequate to the 
justice of divine law. 

Thus the contrite sinner under the law, in 
fact, in all Old Testament times, found that, 
though he possessed a desire to do good, yet 
the power to perform the good must come from 
God through the act of divine grace. Man 
was unable to provide a sacrifice, even him- 
self, that could pay the penalty for sin and 
redeem him from death (see Psa. 49: 6-9, 
15). After doing all that he could, he was 
still left in bondage to the law of his mind — 
his conscience — which had been brought to 
understand the enormity of sin, and he had to 
trust himself to the love of God. 
The children Sarah represents the new 
of Promise. covenant, and Isaac, the chil- 

dren of promise, who are free. This freedom 
is not liberty from law, or license to do as one 
may please, but represents the spiritual birth, 
which is from above (verses 26-28). Isaac 



50 Divine Law 

was a child of promise. His mother, Sarah, 
was superannuated, or as Paul states it, "as 
good as dead." Hence the birth of Isaac had 
to be accomplished contrary to nature. Isaac 
represents that class of people who are born 
from above and given the spirit to do right. 
The divine nature is implanted in them. As 
it is written, "But we as with open face, be- 
holding as in a glass the glory of God, are 
changed into the same image from glory [the 
promises and privileges of the ceremonial law 
and old dispensation] to glory [the benefits of 
the gospel] even by the Spirit of the Lord." 
When writing to the Ephesian brethren (chap. 
4: 24), Paul expresses this change to be the 
putting on of the "new man, which after God, 
is created in righteousness and true holiness." 
The Modern English renders this text in Ephe- 
sians thus: "Clothe yourselves with a new crea- 
ture, one made to resemble God, in the right- 
eousness and holiness demanded by the 
truth." 

This change makes man a "new creature: 
old things have passed away: behold, all 



and the Sabbath. 5 1 

things are became new" (2 Cor. 5: 17). 
Whereas, in the Jerusalem of old, her children, 
because their natures were not changed, were 
in continual fear of breaking the law and, at 
best, retained the consciousness that their sac- 
rifices were of themselves inadequate to pay 
the penalty for sin, the children of the new Je- 
rusalem are, by the power of God, changed 
from a carnal nature to a nature made subject 
to the supreme law of God, and have the as- 
surance that a complete sacrifice has been of- 
fered. They have the spirit of the supreme 
law written in their hearts. 
Israel saved We do not wish to convey the 
by Faith. thought that the children of 

Israel, who were subject to the Sinaitic cove- 
nant, could not experience a transformation of 
heart, but rather that obedience to the law given 
them at Sinai was not the means by which that 
transformation was accomplished. Intelligent 
obedience to the law of sacrifices and other or- 
dinances, which were imposed upon the Jewish 
nation after their deliverance from Egypt 
manifested faith in the promise given to Abra- 



52 Divine Law 

ham. Whenever Israel fell into formality in 
their worship of God, he sent faithful prophets, 
who warned them of their departure from the 
faith in the promise, and clearly defined that 
their sacrifices, their keeping of sabbath and 
of new moons, were an abomination. 
Formality Therefore the prophet Esaias 

Rebuked. ^jj j Q J srae ^ ^q h ac [ f a H en 

away from faith (chap. 1 : 11-15): "To what 
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto 
me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt 
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and 
I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of 
lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to ap- 
pear before me, who hath required this at your 
hand to tread my courts? Bring no more vain 
oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; 
the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of 
assemblies, I can not away with; it is iniquity, 
even the solemn meeting. Your new moons 
and your appointed feasts my soul hateth ; they 
are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear 
them. And when ye spread forth your hands, 
I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye 



and the Sabbath. 53 

make many prayers, I will not hear: your 
hands are full of blood." 

After the Lord had thus expressed his ab- 
horrence of their formal observance of ritualis- 
tic ceremonies, he continued, "Wash you, make 
you clean; put away the evil of your doings 
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn 
to do well; seek judgment, relieve the op- 
pressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the 
widow." Verses 16, 17. Then when Israel 
had put away the evil of their doing, the Lord 
says, "Come now, and let us reason together." 
In verse 19 he clearly defines that his pur- 
pose for Israel was that they first be willing, 
and then obedient. They must believe the 
promises, and offer the appointed sacrifices, 
which derived their virtue from the great sac- 
rifice of the Son of God typified by them. Sub- 
sequently to a willingness to believe these prom- 
ises of God, they must be obedient to every de- 
tail in carrying them out. God then required 
perfection according to the standard set for 
the old dispensation, just as he now requires 
perfection according to the gospel. To further 



54 Divine Law 

emphasize details in this particular is not im- 
portant in this connection, 
israers Law in We see, then, that the allegory 

Force Till . m 

Christ. mentioned 1 n Galatians 4 

clearly sets forth that the law given at Sinai 
pertained only to the nation to whom it was 
given. Nor are we left in doubt about when 
the law should cease; for the statement is 
clearly made in chap. 3:19 that the law, which 
was given four hundred and thirty years (verse 
1 7) after the promise was made, was ordained 
until the time when Christ, to whom the prom- 
ise was made, should be revealed. Please 
read carefully the texts following, as rendered 
in various translations. Not because it is nec- 
essary in order to support the doctrine here 
presented, but rather to indicate the extensive- 
ness of harmony. 
Pirst , "But this I say: A covenant 

Botnernam's. p rev iously confirmed by God, 
the law, which after four hundred and thirty 
years has been brought into existence, does not 
annul, that it should make the promise of no 
effect. For if by law is the inheritance, no 



and the Sabbath. 55 

longer is it by promise; but, unto Abraham, 
through promise, has God favored it. Why, 
then, the law? Because of the transgression 
it was added, until what time the seed to whom 
it has been promised should come; which law 
was given in charge through messengers, at the 
hand of a mediator." 
second, "And this I say: That the 

syriac covenant which was pre- 

viously confirmed by God in the Messiah, the 
law which was four hundred and thirty years 
after, can not set it aside, and nullify the prom- 
ise; and if the inheritance were by the law, it 
would not be by promise: but God gave it to 
Abraham by promise. What then is the law? 
It was added on account of transgression, until 
that seed should come to whom belonged the 
promise: and the law was given by angels 
through a meditator." 
Third, "Now this I say : A covenant 

standard. confirmed beforehand by 

God, the law, which came four hundred and 
thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to 
make the promise of none effect. For if the 



56 Divine Law 

inheritance is of the law, it is no more of prom- 
ise: but God hath granted it to Abraham by 
promise. What then is the law? It was added 
because of transgressions, till the seed should 
come to whom the promise hath been made; 
and it was ordained through angels by the 
hand of a mediator." 
pourtn, The "My point is this: An agree- 

Twentieth 

century. ment already confirmed by 

God, the Law, which came four hundred and 
thirty years later, does not cancel so as to 
cause the promise to be set aside. If our heri- 
tage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to 
be the result of a promise. Yet God con- 
ferred it on Abraham by a promise. What, 
then, you ask, was the use of the Law? It 
was a later addition, to make wrong-doing an 
offense, and to last till the coming of that 'off- 
spring' to whom the promise had been made. It 
was delivered through angels by a mediator." 
Fifth, "And this I say, A covenant 

Youn *' s - confirmed before by God to 

Christ, the law, that came four hundred and 
thirty years after, doth not set aside, to make 



and the Sabbath. 57 

void the promise; for if by law be the inheri- 
tance, it is no more by promise, but to Abra- 
ham through promise did God grant it. Why, 
then, the law? On account of the transgres- 
sions it was added, till the seed might come to 
which the promise hath been made, having been 
set in order through messengers in the hand of 
a meditator." 
sixth, "Now this I affirm that a 

Wilsons. covenant-engagement pre- 

viously ratified by God, the Law, issued four 
hundred and thirty years afterwards, does not 
annul, so as to invalidate the promise; for if 
the inheritance be by Law, it is no longer by 
promise; but God graciously gave it to Abra- 
ham by promise. Why then the Law? It 
was appointed on account of transgressions, till 
the seed should come to whom the promise re- 
lated; having been instituted by means of an- 
gels, in the hand of a mediator." 

It is evident that the law made at Sinai was 
distinct from the promise made to Abraham, 
that "the promise" made was concerning Christ, 
and that it was fulfilled by his first advent into 



58 Divine Law 

the world. A little careful study of the text 
will make it clear to you that the promise which 
Abraham received was one made to Christ and 
concerned him primarily. Each of the above 
translations of the text in Galatians makes this 
very plain. Note the words: 

1 . "Until what time the seed to whom it has 
been promised should come." 

2. "Until that seed should come to whom 
belonged the promise." 

3. "Till the seed should come to whom the 
promise hath been made." 

4. "To last till the coming of that Off- 
spring' to whom the promise had been made." 

5. "Till the seed might come to which the 
promise hath been made." 

6. "Till the seed should come to whom the 
promise related." 

The Promise to T^t which Abraham's faith 

Abraham Was . 

Eternal. laid hold of was not merely 

a temporal blessing. The primary thing he 
saw in the promise was not a temporal nation. 
Paul makes it very clear in Hebrews 1 1 that 
while Abraham was in the land of promise he 



and the Sabbath. 59 

sojourned as in a strange country. While the 
promise that was made him included the land 
wherein he sojourned — Canaan — he knew that 
it embraced more. Therefore "he looked for 
a city which hath foundations, whose builder 
and maker is God" (verses 8-16). And 
further, it is made clear that when the seed 
should come to whom the primary part of the 
promise belonged, then the law given at 
Sinai would be thenceforth no longer in force. 
It would be folly to oppose these plain 
truths; but in order to avoid all possible con- 
fusion over the question of what law was added 
because of sin, and because of whose sin that 
law was added, we shall consider the history 
leading up to the beginning of Egypt and the 
experiences of Israel from Abraham's day to 
the time when we find them before Mount 
Sinai. 



Divine Law and the Sabbath. 61 

CHAPTER V. 
The Origin and the Religion of Egypt. 

How has there come to be so many heathen? 
Certainly if the Bible tells the truth (and it 
does) there was a time, as we have before seen, 
when the progenitors of men knew God. 
For the benefit of those who are confused 
because there are so many heathen in the world 
we cite Rom. 1:21: "When they knew God, 
they glorified him not as God, neither were 
thankful ; but became vain in their imaginations, 
and their foolish heart was darkened." This 
explains the cause for all the heathen darkness 
that may be found in the world today. There 
was a time when the ancestors of the heathen 
knew God. Nor may we without fear of con- 
demnation cast reproach on God at the present 
by saying that he has forgotten the heathen, for 
he is mindful of every cry that comes from an 
honest, though benighted, heart. Therefore, 
as we consider the origin of Egypt, let us not 
feel that there was no hope for their salvation. 



62 Divine Law 

We shall find, however, as stated in 1 Cor. 
15:33, that "evil communications corrupt 
good manners." Therefore when we have 
found the origin of the Egyptian nation, we 
may understand better why they clung to hea- 
then customs and worshiped false gods, 
origrin of tue Turning to the ninth chapter 

Egyptian 

Nation. of Genesis, we may read that 

after the flood the earth was populated through 
the descendants of Noah. "And the sons of 
Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, 
and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the fa- 
ther of Canaan. These are the three sons 
of Noah: and of them was the whole earth 
overspread." Verses 18, 19. The children 
of Ham were wayward and more given to do- 
ing sinful things than were the rest. Egypt 
is the land of Ham. "Israel also came into 
Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of 
Ham." Psa. 105: 23. Also verse 26: "He 
sent Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he 
had chosen. They showed his signs among 
them [the Egyptians], and wonders in the 
land of Ham, and [God] smote all the first- 



end the Sabbath. 63 

torn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in 
the tabernacles of Ham." Psa. 78: 51. "They 
forgot God their savior, which had done great 
things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land 
of Ham; terrible things by the Red Sea." 
Psa. 1 06 : 2 1 , 22. Thus we see that Egypt 
was settled by the descendants of Ham. But 
it is not to be supposed that immediately after 
the flood Ham departed into the land which 
later became the country of Egypt. Doubt- 
less, these descendants of Noah migrated to 
their future homes proportionately as they mul- 
tiplied. 
Ham's ronr Turning again to Genesis 10, 
Sons - we find (verse 6) that Ham 

had four sons. To these sons were born such 
men as Nimrod, who founded the heathen king- 
dom of Babel (Babylon). In this country the 
tower of Babel was built, and the people began 
to worship the sun instead of the true God. 
Another of Ham's descendants, Ashur, builded 
Nineveh, a city which was renowned for its 
wickedness. In verse 14, we locate two more 
of Ham's descendants — Path-rusim and Caslu- 



64 Divine Law 

him. Out of them came the Philistines. These 
were the people with whom the children of 
Israel had so much trouble later (verses 15- 
19). The descendants of Canaan were the 
Jebusites, Amorites, Girgasites, Hivites, 
Canaanites. They settled in the land prom- 
ised to Abraham as a temporal possession. The 
early history of the sons of Ham would lead 
to the conclusion that their descendants began 
spreading over the country lying toward the 
south, from the land of Palestine into Arabia, 
and over into Egypt on the other side of the 
Red Sea. 
Religion of No doubt our reader is SOme- 

Descendants. what familiar with the religion 
of the tribes and nations to whom we have just 
referred. They were idolatrous in the ex- 
treme. They regarded Baal as god and at- 
tributed to him the power of a creator. Wor- 
ship of him consisted in bowing before an 
idol — image — and in making sacrifice to him 
in honor of the sun, which was regarded as 
the manifestation of his glory. Century Dic- 
tionary and Encyclopedia (Article Baal) says: 



and the Sabbath. 65 

"The name of a Semitic solar deity worshiped 
with much license and sensuality. 'Baal' was 
derived from the Babylonian Bel, a deity of 
much higher type. Its original generic sense is 
lord/' 

Thus, in progress of time after the flood, 
these sons of Ham who migrated into Egypt 
ceased to worship God and substituted sun- 
worship. Other idolatrous practises were also 
observed. At a very early time we find one 
day of the week set apart for festival and en- 
tertainment, and called Sunday. This day is 
spoken of in history as the "wild solar holi- 
day of all pagan times." Webster has the 
following: "Sunday. So called because an- 
ciently this day was dedicated to the sun or its 
worship." Worcester's dictionary says, "Sun- 
day. So named because anciently dedicated 
to the sun or its worship. The first day of 
the week." From Chambers (Article Baal) 
we quote, "The early history of Baal is in- 
volved in darkness, but it is certain that from 
the most distant times it has been the chief 
seat of sun-worship, as its name implies." 



66 Divine Law 

SchafFs Bible Dictionary gives the following: 
"Sunday is of heathen origin, and means the 
day of the sun, or sacred to the god of the 
sun." Much more might be said regarding 
Baal- worship and the early observance of false 
religions, but the above quotations will no doubt 
suffice to confirm our reader in the belief that 
in Egypt and the countries inhabited by the 
descendants of Canaan the idolatrous practise 
of sun-worship was included in their prevailing 
religion. 

On these matters we shall say more later. 
At the present let us locate the chosen people 
of God and find how Egyptian religion influ- 
enced them. 



and the Sabbath. 67 

CHAPTER VI. 
Israel in Egypt. 

The children of Israel sprang from Abra- 
ham, or Abram, as he was at first known. 
Abram came from Ur of the Chaldeas, or 
Chaldeans. He was a subject of the Bab- 
ylonian monarchy. The religion of that peo- 
ple generally was, as with the ancient Ara- 
bians and Syrians, the worship of heavenly 
bodies. This consisted in offering sacrifices 
upon altars to Bel, Baal, Na, and Meni, which 
service was rendered in adoration to the sun, 
moon, and stars. It was because of this false 
religion and the evil effect it would have on 
Abraham's descendants that the Lord sepa- 
rated him from his father's house and from his 
kindred when he (the Lord) made the cove- 
nant that through Abram all the nations of the 
earth should be blessed. "Abraham believed 
God, and it was counted unto him for right- 
eousness." Rom. 4: 3. As Abraham moved 
out upon the promise of God, his integrity was 



68 Divine Law 

honored by the Lord, who at various times re- 
newed his promise and made clear the details. 
Also he was told of the long sojourn of his 
posterity in Egypt and of their triumphant de- 
liverance. 
God roreteiis Yhe fi rs t intimation given to 

the Egyptian 

Bondage. Abraham concerning the per- 

iod of four hundred years or more of exile ex- 
perience for his posterity prior to the time 
when they would be established in their own 
land, may be found in Gen. 15:1 3-1 6: "Know 
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in 
a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them: 
and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 
and also that nation whom they shall serve, 
will I judge: and afterward shall they come 
out with great substance. And thou shalt go 
to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried 
in a good old age. But in the fourth genera- 
tion they shall come hither again." 

Here is a prophecy of promise manifesting 
God's interest in the future of his people. The 
sign of circumcision — a seal of righteousness — 
had been given to Abraham and his descend- 



and the Sabbath. 69 

ants as a mark of separation to God. Abra- 
ham's seed were to remain a stranger in a land 
that was not theirs, just as they had maintained 
separateness in the land of Canaan — a sepa- 
rateness not only in tribal relation, but unto 
God as well. If in a land that was their own 
they must be sojourners, looking for a better 
country, "even an heavenly," much more must 
they remain separate and distinct from those 
around them when in a country that was not 
their own. 
Israel Lost B ut d i d Israel, while in 

the Knowledge 

of God. Egypt, remain separate? 

Only in a tribal sense did they as a whole so 
remain. Remembering the promise made to 
their father Abraham, they clung to distinct- 
iveness as a race, but they did not serve in faith- 
fulness their father's God. The early married 
life of Moses shows that he was not faithful 
to the rite of circumcision given to Abraham. 
Zipporah, his wife, was not required to cir- 
cumcise his son, nor did she consent to do so 
until Moses on the way to meet Pharaoh took 
sick at the hotel. She then obeyed because 



70 Divine Law 

she feared Moses' death (see Exod. 4:24- 
28). Evidently the people of Israel were not 
more faithful than the man whom God had 
chosen from among them as a leader. The 
fact is, as we shall find later, that they turned 
to sinful ways, and by the time of the fourth 
generation they had to a great extent lost the 
knowledge of God. 

Even a cursory reading of Abraham's life 
reveals a striking contrast between his experi- 
ence and that of Israel in Egypt. Abraham 
had little faith at the beginning of his experience 
under the definite promise that God gave to 
him; but as we read his history and note the 
experiences through which he passed in such 
triumph, we find a positive and strong develop- 
ment in his faith to the last. Abraham not only 
remained separate from the nations around him, 
but increased in fidelity toward God. 

With Israel in Egypt the very reverse was 
true as regards fidelity to God. Even be- 
fore leaving Canaan they had departed greatly 
from the faith of Abraham. Note, in evi- 
dience, the lives of Jacob's sons as given in the 



and the Sabbath. 71 

Scriptures. But in order that they might pre- 
serve their racial distinction while they dwelt 
in the land of Egypt, they were advised by 
Joseph to settle in the land of Goshen. Their 
request for the privilege to live there being 
granted, they had opportunity to remain sepa- 
rate. Through their intercourse with Egypt, 
however, they became acquainted with the 
ways of the heathen, and turned more and 
more to sin. They lost sight of the true God, 
and worshiped the gods of Egypt. The Psalm- 
ist says, "We have sinned with our fathers, we 
have committed iniquity, we have done wick- 
edly. Our fathers understood not thy won- 
ders in Egypt; they remembered not the mul- 
titude of thy mercies." Psa. 106: 6, 7. 
God But God had promised that 

Remembered 

His Promise. after four hundred years of af- 
fliction he would remember his people and 
would bring them back to their own land. 
When the time was expired, he looked upon 
their distress and raised up Moses to be a de- 
liverer. The whole time of the sojourn was 
four hundred and thirty years (Exod. 12: 40, 



72 Divine Law 

41). Evidently some years passed before the 
increasing numbers and the thriftiness of the 
tribes of Israel alarmed Egypt (Exod. 1 : 6- 
10). When "Joseph died, and all his breth- 
ren, and all that generation, there arose a new 
king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." 
Then persecution and hardship began. 

God, however, blessed those who retained 
faith in him, even though in some matters they 
had become slack. As the end of the fourth 
generation drew near, there were some who 
still regarded the promise. The entire trace 
of faith had not been obliterated. Moses was 
born in the family of one who was faithful 
to God. They had remained "a stranger" and 
believed the covenant of promise. God hon- 
ored this faith. When Moses came to years, 
he still believed the instruction of his child- 
hood, embraced the promise of God, and re- 
fused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daugh- 
ter. He later became a prophet and leader, and 
eventually the mediator, or messenger, through 
whom God gave Israel's "national covenant" 
—the law (John 1: 17). 



and the Sabbath. 73 

Reasons for Having reviewed the history 

Givingr the f . . J 7 

sinaitic Law. of Israel, briefly noting suffi- 
cient evidence to establish the fact that they 
had gone into sin, even though they main- 
tained their right to the Abrahamic promise, 
we can better appreciate the reason for the 
law which was "added because of transgres- 
sions." The promise made to Abraham pointed 
forward to Christ. Had Israel remained in the 
integrity of Abraham their father, no place 
for the law that was added would have been 
found. Hence there was only one object for 
its appearance, and that is the one given by 
Paul. He tells us that the law was added after 
the promise was given, or at the time when Is- 
rael went out of Egypt (Exod. 12: 40, 41 ) ; 
that it was added because of their sin ; and that 
it was a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ — 
the fulfilment of the promise — in order that 
they might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:17- 
29). 

The nature of the law given at the time of 
deliverance from Egypt, then, had to be such 
as would instruct in divine service and keep 



74 Divine Law 

the people who obeyed it separate from the na- 
tions around them. Faith in the promise had 
accomplished this for Abraham; but now that 
Israel had lost faith and also a knowledge of 
the true God, there must be given them a code 
of laws to obey, which would take their at- 
tention from the gods they had served in Egypt 
and direct them to Him who is the source of 
faith. This law having been given for such 
a purpose could justly be termed a school- 
master. This schoolmaster was to remain until 
the fulfilment of the promise that was by faith. 



and the Sabbath. 75 

CHAPTER VII. 
From Egypt to Sinai. 

During the time that the descendants of 
Abraham suffered under the bondage of Egypt, 
they learned the false worship of the heathen 
and so far forgot their father's God that 
they no longer knew his name. With the names 
of the false gods of Egypt, Israel had become 
familiar, but they remembered very little about 
the God of heaven. Though Moses' parents 
were among the more faithful Israelites, yet 
even his brother, Aaron, whom God chose to 
be priest, proved at the first of his experience 
that he was not very strong in the Lord. 

When God called Moses to deliver the peo- 
ple, it was necessary that he instruct them as 
to what was the name of God. "And Moses 
said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the 
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The 
God of your fathers has sent me, and they shall 
say unto me, What is his name? what shall I say 
unto them?" Moses knew that they were unac- 



76 Divine Law 

quainted with even the name of God, much less 
with his nature and power; hence his question. 
"And God said unto Moses, "i AM THAT I AM. 
. . . Thus shalt thou say unto the children of 
Israel, I AM hath sent me. Jehovah the God of 
your fathers. This is my name forever, and 
this is my memorial unto all generations." 
Exod. 3: 14, 15. (American Standard Ver- 
sion. ) 
The cause for The poor souls of Moses' gen- 

Ignorance 

of God. eration were not so much to 

be blamed for knowing little about God. They 
had inherited (so to speak) their idolatrous 
devotion. They thought that they were wor- 
shiping the true God, and they expected him to 
hear and deliver them. Yea, and God did hear 
them; for we read: "And the Lord said, I 
have surely seen the affliction of my people 
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry 
by reason of their taskmasters ; for I know their 
sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them 
out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring 
them up out of that land unto a good land 
and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and 



and the Sabbath. 77 

honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and 
the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Periz- 
zites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. . . . 
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto 
Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my peo- 
ple out of Egypt." Exod. 3: 7-10. 

Nor should we get too high an ideal of 
Moses' form of worship of the true God prior 
to his instruction at the burning bush. When 
Moses fled from Egypt, he went into the land 
of Midian and there married the daughter of a 
priest or prince among the Midianites, who 
were idolaters — sun-worshipers. These very 
people (the Midianites) later became one of 
Israel's worst enemies. 
Moses at the I n view of these facts, it is 
Burning Bush - folly to suppose that Moses 
was much better acquainted with the true wor- 
ship of God than were his people, the Israel- 
ites, in Egypt. Therefore the Lord approached 
him at a burning bush, which, though it burned, 
was not consumed. Wonderful indeed was 
such a sight. Naturally, Moses turned aside 
to see what such a thing could mean. From 



78 Divine Law 

the bush God spoke to him and instructed 
him. 

Has the striking similarity ever appealed to 
you, that even as Moses was instructed by the 
Lord out of the bush that burned, so a little 
later all Israel, encamped before Mount Sinai, 
were also instructed out of the midst of the fire 
and smoke? Yea, did not God make that very 
burning bush a miniature illustration of the man- 
ner in which he would instruct the whole camp 
of his people? Read it for yourself. (Exod. 
3: 12.) 
The Burning Talking with Moses out of 

Bnsh Token. ^ ^ Q od ^J, «J am 

come down to deliver them [Israel] out of the 
hand of the Egyptians. . . . Come now there- 
fore, and I will send thee to Pharaoh, that 
thou mayest bring forth my people. And 
Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I 
should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should 
bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 
And he [God] said, Certainly I will be with 
thee: and this shall be a token unto thee, that 
I have sent thee : when thou hast brought forth 



and the Sabbath. 79 

the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve me upon 
this mountain." What was to be "the token"? 
Ah, such strange things as Moses had seen and 
heard — the fire, smoke, cloud, and voice of 
God at the burning bush — but the token would 
be on a larger, grander, more spectacular scale. 
The children of Israel were not only to see the 
strange sight, but also to hear, even as Moses 
had heard, the voice of God speaking into their 
own ears, teaching them his will concerning 
the promise made with their father Abraham. 
Thus they were to worship at the mount. Such 
was the token. 

Moses doubtless instructed Israel concern- 
ing this token while they were yet in the 
land of bondage. The demand was then made 
to Pharaoh, "Let my people go that they may 
hold a feast unto me in the wilderness" (Exod. 
5:1). This was a command from the God 
of heaven. He had manifested his power in 
the signs given to Moses at the bush that burned 
but was not consumed. And the promised token 
was an assurance to Moses that when the peo- 
ple had seen the wonderful sight of burning 



80 Divine Law 

Mount Sinai and had heard the voice of God, 
they would believe God forever. 
Moses instructs You will note that when 

Aaron and He 

the People. Moses finally decided to re- 

turn to Egypt as a deliverer, Aaron, accord- 
ing to the word of the Lord, was ready to 
join him (see Exod. 4:27). After Moses 
had met and greeted Aaron, "Moses told 
Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent 
him, and all the signs which he had commanded 
him." What was the result of this meeting? 
We may read it in the next verses: "And 
Moses and Aaron went and gathered together 
all the elders of the children of Israel: and 
Aaron spake all the words which the Lord 
had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in 
the sight of the people. And the people be- 
lieved: and when they heard that the Lord 
had visited the children of Israel, and that he 
had looked upon their affliction, then they 
bowed their heads and worshiped." (See also 
Exod. 4: 14-17, 27-31.) 

Notice that Moses had certain command- 
ments to teach Israel through Aaron, and cer- 



and the Sabbath. 81 

tain signs to show Pharaoh. When Moses 
met Aaron and told him all the words of the 
Lord, Aaron believed. And when the peo- 
ple heard that the Lord had visited Israel, they 
bowed and worshiped. Thus they acknowl- 
edged their willingness to obey all that God 
would have them to do. Then, for the first 
time, they began to see the contrast between 
the true God and their idolatrous worship. 
Israel Given the The fact that Israel was about 
ZZ££L to be established as a nation 
Leaving Egypt, confirms the conviction that 
Moses in quite a complete manner delivered to 
Israel the laws which afterward they heard from 
the Lord himself out of the midst of the fire 
and smoke of burning Mount Sinai. In the 
fourth chapter of Exodus we find that Moses 
complained. "I am not eloquent," said he; 
"neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken 
unto thy servant." If you will turn to your 
Bible and read in the margin, you will note 
that the wording indicates that Moses spent 
several days at the burning bush with the Lord. 
For the benefit of those who have not at hand 



82 Divine Law 

other translations of the Word I will quote 
from The Seventy: "And Moses said to the 
Lord, I pray, Lord, I have not been sufficient 
before yesterday, neither before the third day, 
neither from the time that thou hast begun to 
speak to thy servant. I am weak in speech and 
slow tongued." Also Young's translation: 
"And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'O my Lord, 
I am not a man of words, either yesterday, or 
before, or since thy speaking unto thy servant, 
for I am slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.' ' 
From these texts one naturally concludes that 
the subject-matter of God's message to Moses 
and for Israel is only hinted at in what is given 
in chapter 4. That which God had given 
Moses to teach contained man}) words of in- 
struction concerning the future of a nation and 
the work of a leader. Several days were 
evidently occupied in instructing Moses in 
all that pertained to his important work as 
mediator and deliverer. It would not require a 
man of fluent speech and of extraordinary abil- 
ity to tell of the wonder of the burning bush 
and of a voice coming from it, if nothing more 



and the Sabbath. 83 

was said than is recorded in Exodus 4. But 

when asked what the voice said and whose 

voice it was, Moses realized that ability such as 

he did not boast of was needed. 

At this time Moses was formally called and 

made the leader and deliverer of Israel. Not 

only did such a commission demand of him to 

free Israel from cruel bondage, but as a leader 

he was expected to teach the people the ways 

of God. Therefore it was doubtless at this 

time that God told Moses rather fully about 

their national law, sabbath-day keeping as 

a memorial of deliverance from Egyptian 

bondage, in honor to the real Creator of the 

earth, and that the time had come to separate 

the children of Abraham into their own land, 

and to make them a strong nation on condition 

that they would obey his will. 

sabbath-keeping Moses having thus been in- 
Required before 

Beacnins sinai. structed in the law before Is- 
rael left Egypt, it was a perfectly natural 
thing for him to say at the time of the giving 
of the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16), 
"This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomor- 



84 Divine Law 

row is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the 
Lord. . . . Six days shall ye gather it [the 
manna] , but on the seventh* day, which is the 
sabbath, in it there shall be none." From this 
time till receiving the law at Mount Sinai, or 
about one month, they kept sabbaths (Exod. 
16: 1 ; 19: 1, 2). By establishing this sab- 
bath-keeping custom, God called attention to 
the fact that in creation's week the world and 
all that therein is, was made. Thus the Lord 
would have his people to worship him on an- 
other day than that on which they had been ac- 
customed to worship while with the heathen in 
Egypt. Besides this, the weekly observance 
of sabbath-service was a reminder to Israel of 
his supreme power. 
At the Base From the time Israel left 

of Mount Sinai. Egypt> they ha J man jf est ed 

considerable faith. Their forms of worship 
had been remarkably changed. They had 
proved their willingness to walk out upon the 
promises of God. True, they had shown some 
reluctance until they understood, and had done 
some complaining; but finally they yielded to 



and the Sabbath. 85 

the word of the Lord. God had honored 
Moses' faith, and the Lord's presence by fire, 
as shown to Moses in the burning bush, had 
gone before the children of Israel in a cloud 
of fire and smoke and had given them light by 
night and protection by day. 

"In the third month, when the children of 
Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, 
. . . came they into the wilderness of Sinai." 
Exod. 19:1. Here they pitched tent before 
the mount. The time had come for the Lord 
to verify his promise to Moses. Him we find, 
when everything had been arranged in the 
camp, going up into the mountain before the 
Lord. "And the Lord called unto Moses out 
of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say 
to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of 
Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the 
Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' 
wings, and brought you unto myself. Now 
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and 
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar 
treasure unto me above all people: for all the 
earth is mine." 



86 Divine Law 

It is interesting to note in these words how 
the Lord contrasts his great power with the 
power of the gods they had been worshiping, 
and calls attention to the fact that he has 
brought Israel to himself. Then he says, 

"Therefore [or because of seeing this power 
in me], if ye will obey my covenant, then ye 
shall be a peculiar treasure unto me." Moses, 
at the burning bush, received instructions con- 
cerning the covenant and the laws about to 
be given, as we have before stated, and some 
of these were taught to Israel prior to their hav- 
ing encamped before the mount. While assem- 
bled here Israel was doubtless awaiting in ex- 
pectancy to hear the voice of God proclaim their 
national covenant. Hence it was perfectly fit- 
ting that the Lord should say, prior to speak- 
ing audibly with Israel, "Therefore, if ye will 
hear my voice, and keep my covenant," etc. 

On receiving this charge from the Lord for 
Israel, Moses returned to the people to deliver 
his message. He called for the elders and 
laid before them all the words that the Lord 
had commanded him. It is quite likely that 



and the Sabbath. 87 

Moses reviewed again the instructions and the 
promises that he had given them before leaving 
Egypt. The people understood the meaning 
of this mssage, "and all the people answered 
together, and said, All that the Lord hath 
spoken we will do." Moses, acting as media- 
tor between the people and God, returned and 
appeared before Jehovah, and delivered "the 
words of the people unto the Lord." 
The People Thus far the people and 

Prepare to 

Meet God. Moses have complied fully 

with God's requirements, and now the Lord 
promises that he will meet the people and 
confirm all the words that Moses has deliv- 
ered to them in the capacity of a mediator. The 
Lord is about to fulfil his promise of the token 
and to keep his covenant, given to Moses at the 
burning bush. He said, "Lo, I come unto 
them in a thick cloud, that the people may hear 
when I speak with thee, and believe thee for- 
ever" Bounds are set about the mountain, 
and the ground is sanctified — consecrated — for 
a considerable distance. Here, just as at the 
burning bush, a place is made sacred. 



88 Divine Law 

The Lord wanted the people to understand 
that their ways must be made right before they 
could have communion with him. Moses was 
to them an example of meekness and holiness. 
When he was at the burning bush, he was told 
to take the shoes from off his feet. This was 
doubtless a figure of making his paths straight, 
honest, and holy in the sight of God. Moses 
had submitted to God at the burning bush, and 
so on this occasion he was able to go up into 
the mountain alone and talk with God. But 
the people had not yet learned how to appreci- 
ate the greatness of God; nor were they able 
to know his might and power until they by per- 
sonal experience had heard his voice and had 
seen the wonderful sights of burning Mount 
Sinai. "And all the people saw the thunder- 
ings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the 
trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when 
the people saw it, they removed and stood afar 
off." 
Israel choose This demonstration was a 

Moses to Be t i • • 

Their Mediator, spectacular scene. In his wis- 
dom God knew it to be important to give such 



and the Sabbath. 89 

an external evidence of power and grandeur 
as would totally eclipse all false gods. Amid 
the awful grandeur of this occasion the Lord 
proclaimed unto Israel his covenant. No longer 
did the people need to doubt the source from 
which Moses had received his instruction. They 
felt their insufficiency and began to recognize 
in some measure the extent of their depravity in 
the sight of Jehovah. So when Moses came 
to them later they said, "Speak thou with us, 
and we will hear." Here is a terse admission 
on their part that they now believed that all 
Moses had spoken unto them came from God, 
and that they, because of their unworthiness, 
would rather have a mediator between them 
and the holy God than to come directly into 
his presence. Therefore we read, "Let not 
God speak with us, lest we die." Moses en- 
couraged the people. "Fear not," he said, 
"for God is come to prove you, and that his 
fear may be before your faces, that you sin 
not." 

Thus Israel accepted a "schoolmaster" in 
the hands of a mediator, in order that they 



90 Divine Law 

might be taught to keep their faith in the cove- 
nant made with Abraham their father and 
thenceforth always serve their father's God. 
And this "schoolmaster" they accepted over 
them until the fulfilment of the promise made 
to Abraham, in order that they might remem- 
ber the covenant made prior to the giving of 
this law. 



and the Sabbath. 91 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Schoolmaster, or Sinaitic Covenant. 

"After that faith is come we are no longer 
under a schoolmaster." In these words Paul 
makes direct reference to the law given at 
Sinai: "The law was our schoolmaster." This 
schoolmaster law contained precepts for direct- 
ing Israel back to God, and defined the duty 
of the nation until Christ, the substance of the 
promise that was given to Abraham, should 
come. It prescribed civil, ceremonial, hy- 
gienic, and moral laws with sanctions. The 
principles of the whole old-covenant system 
are expressed in what is commonly known as 
the decalogue — the ten commandments. The 
details of the law are given at great length and 
in minute completeness in Exodus, Leviticus, 
and Deuteronomy. 
The F°r ages it has been taught 

Decaloffne. ^ ^ decalogue j s ^ su- 

preme law of God and that wherever "the 



92 Divine Law 

law," whereby is a knowledge of sin, is men- 
tioned in the Bible, direct reference is made to 
the ten commandments. Therefore the pro- 
fessed Christian world has believed that code 
to be the standard of Christian faith. This 
doctrine is so venerated that some will hardly 
dare to consider anything that would set aside 
the old belief, they fearing there would be no 
way by which to define sin. The utter folly 
of such an idea is attested by the holy lives of 
thousands who know the truth about the law 
doctrine, but who, while yet in sin, were con- 
victed by the Spirit of truth and led to repent- 
ance. 

Theologians have been less credulous than 
many who listen to their teaching. Having 
found that the old, or Sinaitic, covenant in- 
cludes the ten commandments, some have at- 
tempted to distinguish between the decalogue 
and the ceremonial code. They have set forth 
that the ten commandments have been God's 
standard of judgment in heaven and on earth, 
and that, in the giving of the covenant on Sinai, 
that code was incorporated because of the very 



and the Sabbath. 93 

nature of things. It must be so, they say, since 
Israel was God's chosen people and the ten 
commandments is God's supreme law. They fail, 
however, to give satisfactory proof of their con- 
tention. They have taken a liberty in this that 
is unwarranted by the Scripture ; hence we call 
particular attention to the fact that there ex- 
ists no difference, but rather that all is one law. 
It should always be remembered that an un- 
supported statement is not proof. 
Tue smaitic Writing by inspiration, Moses 
covenant ca lls the ten commandments 

Includes the 

Decaiogrue and the covenant: "And the Lord 

Ceremonial Law. i r .1 

spake unto you out or the 
midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the 
words, but saw no similtude; only ye heard a 
voice. And he declared unto you his cove- 
nant, which he commanded you to perform, 
even ten commandments; and he wrote them 
upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4: 12, 13. 
See also Exod. 34 : 4, 28 : "And Moses rose 
up early in the morning, and went up unto 
Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded, 
and took in his hand the two tables of stone. 



94 Divine Law 

And he was there with the Lord forty days 
and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor 
drink water. And he wrote upon the tables 
the words of the covenant, the ten command- 
ments." These texts could not more plainly 
teach that the ten-commandment law, given to 
Israel at Mount Sinai, was the covenant. This 
covenant was a schoolmaster to Israel to bring 
them back to a knowledge of God and to 
faith in the promise concerning Christ. 

While in Egypt they had followed false 
gods, but now through the law they were be- 
ing directed to the Creator, who by a mighty 
and outstretched arm had delivered them from 
the house of bondage. Moses reminded the 
children of Israel of the fate of the Egyptians 
because they had not harkened to the voice of 
the Lord, neither had been turned from their 
false gods by the power manifested in the 
plagues. He also thus called the Israelites' at- 
tention to the time when they suffered from 
plague on their journey. "Your eyes," he 
said, "have seen what the Lord did because 
of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed 



and the Sabbath. 95 

Baalpeor the Lord thy God destroyed them 
from among you, but ye that did cleave unto 
the Lord your God are alive, every one of 
you this day. Behold, I have taught you 
statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my 
God commanded me. Keep therefore and 
do them." Deut. 4: 3-6. Faithful and intelli- 
gent observance of what had been commanded 
Israel would be the only safeguard against fall- 
ing into their former idolatrous practises, 
sinaitio I n Deuteronomy 5, where the 

SSTSh MOt decalogue is given in full, it 
Abranam. [ s expressly stated that this 

covenant was not made with their fathers. Note 
carefully the following: "And Moses called 
all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, 
the statutes and judgments which I speak in 
your ears this day, that ye may learn them, 
and keep and do them. The Lord our God 
made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord 
made not this covenant with our fathers, but 
with us, even us, who are all of us here alive 
this day." This covenant is the one which, in 
chap. 4: 10-13, was spoken "out of the midst 



96 Divine Law 

of the fire and smoke." It was made, not with 
their fathers, but with the Israelites that were 
alive at this time and stood before the mount 
and heard the words. Could anything be 
plainer or harmonize more perfectly with Paul's 
statement in Galatians, that this covenant was 
distinctly separate from the one made with 
Abraham and the fathers prior to the giving to 
Israel of the code of laws which were to be 
their basis of government? Read it again — 
"The Lord made not this covenant with our 
fathers, but with us, even us, who are all alive 
this day, and the Lord talked with you face 
to face in the mount, out of the midst of the 
fire." Here is, in part, what the Lord said: 
The Ten 1 • "I am the Lord thy God, 

Commandments. which brought thee Out of the 

land of Egypt, from the house of bond- 
age. Thou shalt have none other gods 
before me." Verses 6 and 7. 
2. "Thou shalt not make thee any graven 
image: . . . thou shalt not bow down 
thyself unto them, nor serve them." 
Verses 8 and 9. 



and the Sabbath. 97 

3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the 

Lord thy God in vain." Verse 1 1 . 

4. "Keep the sabbath-day. . . . The seventh 

day is the sabbath." Verses 12-14. 

5. "Honor thy father and thy mother." 

Verse 16. 

6. "Thou shalt not kill." Verse 17. 

7. "Neither shalt thou commit adultery." 

Verse 18. 

8. "Neither shalt thou steal." Verse 19. 

9. "Neither shalt thou bear false witness." 

Verse 20. 

10. "Neither shalt thou covet." Verse 
21. 

conclusion. "These words the Lord spake 

unto all your assembly in the mount, out of 
the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the 
thick darkness, with a great voice: and he 
added no more. And he wrote them in two 
tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." 
Follow carefully, if you will, the succeeding 
chapters, and note that each one of the ten 
precepts is taken up and discussed, in order 
that the nation might understand just what 



98 Divine Law 

obedience to the ten commandments implied. 
Also, we find (Exod. 19 to 24: 8) that the 
old covenant included not only the ten com- 
mandments but also all the statutes and the 
judgments, which were the ten commandments 
amplified and defined, and the punishments 
prescribed for the violation of every precept 
defined in the statutes. You will notice, too, 
that every precept of the ten commandments 
is enlarged upon and defined in the statutes and 
the judgments in Exodus, chapters 21 to 23. 
Hence the "law of Moses" was moral as well 
as civil and ceremonial. 
THe two areat gy creation Adam was, as 

Divisions of the . 

Decalogue. we have shown, made in har- 

mony with the supreme law of God. Beside 
this, he was given laws to regulate man's rela- 
tion in the subordinate sphere that he was to 
occupy. Israel having departed from the Lord 
and gone into gross sinfulness, even to the ex- 
tent of serving idols, it was necessary that they 
have, in addition to what was known of God 
since the fall, such precepts clearly defined 
as would lead them to understand fully both 



and the Sabbath. 99 

the nature of God and what he expected of 
them in the subordinate sphere. 

The first four commandments of the deca- 
logue, defined and amplified, teach the relation 
that God expected of Israel toward himself. 
Included in these were all the ceremonies and 
all the various holidays — sabbaths — which 
pointed to, and found fulfilment in, the coming 
of the Messiah. The last six commandments, 
amplified and defined, gave Israel an under- 
standing of the proper civil relation and duty 
of man to man, and the penalty imposed upon 
violators. These commandments embraced 
both civil and social teachings. Neither of the 
ten precepts as taken separately nor the pre- 
cepts as enlarged upon and defined could be 
transgressed without incurring the displeasure 
of God and violating the principles of the su- 
preme law. (See Chapter I.) 
The Law of The ten commandments con- 
Decaioffne stitute the whole law in brief, 

Amplified. anc J ^ w J 10 J e J aw> Qr J aw Q f 

Moses, is the ten commandments amplified, or 
enlarged. In Deuteronomy, ninth chapter, 



100 Divine Law 

Moses recounts the experience at the time when 
he broke the first tables of stone. In this chap- 
ter he again plainly confirms our statement that 
the covenant was embodied in the precepts that 
were written upon the tables of stone. He does 
so in the following words. "When I was gone 
up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, 
even the tables of the covenant which the Lord 
made with you, then I abode in the mount forty 
days and forty nights; I neither did eat bread 
nor drink water: and the Lord delivered unto 
me two tables of stone written with the finger 
of God ; and on them was written according to 
all the words which the Lord spake with you 
in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the 
day of the assembly." Verses 9 and 10. It 
was "out of the midst of the fire" that God 
spoke with Israel and thus verified by word of 
mouth that which was written in the covenant 
comprehended in the decalogue. There could 
be no doubt, then, on the part of Israel as to 
the origin of this law, nor could there be room 
to conjecture that Moses was not the mediator 
of God's appointment. 



and the Sabbath. 101 

It is worthy of note that when Moses had 
finished reading the book, "wherein was writ- 
ten according to all the words which the Lord 
spoke" in the mount, he took an oath from the 
people according to the custom of those days. 
Here is how it was done: "He [Moses] took 
the book of the covenant; and read it in the 
audience of the people : and Moses took blood 
and sprinkled it upon the people and said, Be- 
hold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah 
hath made with you concerning all these words 
[or upon all these conditions, margin]." Exod. 
24:7, 8. 

Manifest In view of Such plain Scrip- 

Inconsistency. ture> the incons i stency f an 

effort to separate the "ten-commandment cove- 
nant" from the "book of the covenant," wherein 
were given all the conditions concerning the 
covenant, is apparent. As though the Lord 
would be doubly careful that we clearly un- 
derstand, he caused to be written, for our bene- 
fit as well as for the benefit of the Jews, "He 
[Moses] took the book of the covenant and 
read" — the covenant which Jehovah made 



102 Divine Law 

upon all these conditions. Thus we have it 
plainly stated that the "book of the covenant" 
contained the conditions of the covenant. And 
this covenant, the ten commandments, of which 
the "book of the covenant" was an amplifica- 
tion, was not made "with our fathers, but with 
us, even us, who are all of us here alive this 
day" (see Deut. 5:3). 
Tne covenant Thus it may be clearly seen 

Was Placed in . 

the Ark. that the book concerning the 

covenant was an enlargement in detail upon the 
ten principles written in stone, four of which 
contained Israel's duty toward God and six of 
which contained their duty among themselves 
and toward other nations. The fact is that the 
ten-commandment law is the old covenant, 
as is also the whole law of Moses, which was 
simply an amplification or definition of the deca- 
logue. This covenant was for Israel for that 
time — the old dispensation period. The old 
covenant was "made with" Israel (Heb. 8: 

9). 

That it was the ten commandments that as 
a covenant was "enjoined" unto, or "ap- 



and the Sabbath. 103 

pointed" unto, Israel is positively asserted, as 
we have previously found by several Old Testa- 
ment texts. Now let us read the text that 
tells the place where it was to be kept. 1 Kings 
8:21, "I [Solomon] have set them a place 
for the ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord 
which he made with our fathers when he 
brought them out of the land of Egypt." Could 
words be plainer? Deut. 9: 9, which we have 
previously cited, says, "The tables of the cove- 
nant which the Lord made with you." Here 
the "covenant" "made with" Israel is plainly 
stated to be the one written on "tables." That 
covenant written on tables was made with Is- 
rael. The place for keeping it was in the ark, 
which in due time would be done away in the 
greater and perfect gospel day. 
idfe under Again turning to Gal. 3:12, 

the Law. we g nc J t j ie yery f am JIJ ar text> 

"The law is not of faith: but, The man that 
doeth them shall live in them." The confusion 
arising in the minds of many as to the import 
of this text, results from not understanding what 
life is referred to, or from a wrong conception 



1 04 Divine Law 

of the terms of eternal life under the old cove- 
nant. Paul is contrasting faith with works of 
the law, which are not of faith. Service which 
is of faith did not come from obedience alone 
to the national laws of Israel. Because of the 
very wrong interpretation often given to this 
text, its sweet spirit is entirely lost. Shall we 
forget the apostle's inspired comment on the 
law? He said it was the schoolmaster to bring 
us (the whole world, Gentile as well as Jew) 
to the time of the fulfilment of the promise — 
to Christ. Was the law given in vain? Most 
certainly not. While the law was not of faith, 
the man who penitently sought to please God 
manifested his faith in the promise of the Mes- 
siah by reverently observing every detail of the 
ceremonial code. God looked at the heart, 
service of Faith If the motive that prompted 
Required. obedience was wrong, there 

was no life in the formal observance of those 
things required by the law. As we have pre 
viously shown (Chap. IV, p. 51-54), God re- 
quired more than ritualistic observance of the 
ceremonial ordinances. The Lord, through the 



and the Sabbath. 105 

prophet Isaiah, said of the Jews that were not 
right in the sight of God, "This people draw 
near me with their mouth and with their lips 
do honor me, but have removed their heart far 
from me, and their fear toward me is taught by 
the precepts of men." Isa. 29: 13; Matt. 15: 
7-9. God has in all ages demanded service 
from a willing heart (see Isa. 1 : 19). Thus 
it is written, "Abraham believed God, and it 
was accounted [imputed] unto him for right- 
eousness. Therefore they which are of faith, 
the same are the children of Abraham." Gal. 
3 : 6, 7. Though it was not possible under the 
law to realize all the blessings that are ours 
in the gospel dispensation, yet the faithful wor- 
shiper could see, with the holy men of old, that 
not unto himself, but unto us, did the fulness 
of the blessing belong which was in the prom- 
ises and which was typified by the services then 
required. Looking forward to the time of the 
fulfilment of the promise, when he with us 
should be made perfect, he was hopeful. Thus 
while the law that he observed was not of faith, 
it could be said of the man under the law who 



106 Divine Law 

believed the promises made to Abraham's seed 
(Christ), "He who doeth them [the works of 
the law] shall live in them." 
since Christ the We have before made clear 

Sinaitic Law Is 

no More. that the existence or Israel as 

a nation was to serve until Christ should come, 
to whom the promise was made (Gal. 3: 19). 
Therefore he who did the things contained in 
the law lived in them until the fulfilment of the 
promise. After the coming of Christ, faith in 
God could no longer be manifested by obe- 
dience to the ceremonies prescribed in the law of 
Moses, for that to which they pointed had come. 
Therefore Paul teaches that he who observes 
the law must intelligently acknowledge the im- 
port of those things which it typifies. It being 
clear that the unintelligent observance of the 
law could not be wholly acceptable with God 
at any time, it follows that at no time could 
there be the hope of life nor even of national 
tranquillity through formal obedience. God had 
called Israel from among the surrounding na- 
tions for a definite purpose, and when that pur- 
pose was fulfilled through those who believed 



and the Sabbath. 107 

God, then the time for observance of all typical 

things was done away. 
The Trouble ^ n the churches of Galatia, 
m Gaiatia. p au ] j iac j k een pre aching life 

through faith in Christ. Afterward, Jews, who 
were of the circumcision and who were very 
zealous for the law they had practised prior to 
their conversion and that they still in part, at 
least, continued to observe, came into the 
churches during Paul's absence and taught that 
it was necessary to observe certain ceremonial 
customs which were obligatory under the Sina- 
itic covenant. Therefore Paul clearly defines 
between the supreme law — the new covenant 
— that gives spiritual life, and that law which 
was purely national and by obedience to which 
one manifested his belief in God prior to the 
coming of the Messiah. 

God's mission for the nation of Israel was 
that they serve a double purpose. First, to 
them were committed the oracles of God. 
These oracles consisted of promises concerning 
Christ — the Redeemer — (Gen. 3: 15), which 
promises were renewed at various intervals from 



108 Divine Law 

the beginning of the world. Faithful observ- 
ance of these was of the greatest importance. 
Through Israel, God's promise of the Savior 
was to be fulfilled. This was God's first pur- 
pose in separating them from the world. The 
second is included in the first, yet had its defi- 
nite place in God's plan. The national laws, 
which made the Israelites a separate people, 
and all the ceremonial services pointing for- 
ward to Christ, while these were intelligently 
observed through faith — these laws and these 
services manifested to the world the visible peo- 
ple of God, and thus Israel was a witness to 
the nations around that God was the true and 
living Creator. Oh, that Israel had ever hark- 
ened to the commandments of the Lord; then 
would her peace have always been like a 
river and her righteousness as the waves of the 
sea (Isa. 48: 18). 



and the Sabbath. 109 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Sabbath a Sign to Israel. 

In the previous chapters we have seen that 
Israel forgot God during their exile in Egypt. 
In their deliverance from bondage to the 
heathen, God manifested himself in a marvelous 
manner, and gave his people a covenant that 
was to be their schoolmaster. This covenant 
contained laws prescribing duties and defining 
punishments against the violators. One par- 
ticular change from the customs that Israel had 
been used to in Egypt under idolatry was the 
keeping of "the sabbath of the Lord," which 
was to be remembered every seventh day. This 
day had never been observed prior to this 
time. 
The sabbath a The one purpose in setting 

Sign to Israel. apart ^ sevent h Jay Was 

given by the prophet Ezekiel, in whose book 
we may read: "I caused them to go forth out 
of the land of Egypt, and brought them into 
the wilderness. And gave them my statutes, 



1 1 Divine Law 

and showed them my judgments, which if a 
man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover 
also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign 
between me and them, that they might know 
that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Again, 
in the twentieth verse we may read: "Hal- 
low my sabbaths ; and they shall be a sign be- 
tween me and you, that pe may know that I 
am the Lord your God." Ezek. 20: 10-12, 20. 
The sabbath is here pointed out as a sign 
and seal for the children of Israel, and if kept 
holy, according to the covenant, as something 
that would make them distinct from other na- 
tions. God's object in establishing the sabbath 
was not especially to point to himself as Crea- 
tor and to fix a memorial in honor of that fact, 
but rather to remind the Israelites that he was 
the God who delivered them from Egyptian 
bondage. "And remember that thou wast a 
servant in the land of Egypt, and that the 
Lord thy God brought thee out thence through 
a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm: 
therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee 
to keep the sabbath-day." Deut. 5:15. 



and the Sabbath. 1 1 1 

While God designed that Israel should remem- 
ber him as the Creator, the memorial of his 
creative power was not the keeping of the sev- 
enth day of the week nor of any other day. 
Later we shall learn about what constitutes the 
memorial of God. The primary object for giv- 
ing the sabbath was that they might hold it as 
a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt, so 
that it might be a sign between them and their 
God, making them distinctive from heathen 
nations round about. 

But some one will ask, "Was not a sabbath- 
day to be observed from the very beginning as 
a time for rest and for worship ? Did not God 
bless and sanctify that portion of time and give 
it to Adam to be observed as a memorial of his 
creative power?" We answer, No. But be- 
cause it is generally believed that one day out 
of seven should be observed as a sabbath, we 
will carefully consider the reason for the insti- 
tution of a sabbath-day in Israel. 
God Appointed There can be no question but 

Times in the 

Beginning. that in the beginning God 

made the week, a period of time embracing just 



1 1 2 Divine Lam 

seven days, divided into seven equal periods, 
which were indicated by the setting sun. The 
"evening" and the "morning," or the dark and 
light portions of the day, constituted one day of 
twenty- four hours. Gen. 1 : 14-18 reads: "And 
God said, Let there be lights in the firmament 
of the heaven to divide the day from the night ; 
and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and 
for days, and for years: and let them be for 
lights in the firmament of the heaven to give 
light upon the earth : and it was so. And God 
made two great lights; the greater light to rule 
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: 
he made the stars also. And set them in the 
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the 
earth. And to rule over the day and over the 

night, and to divide the light from the dark- 
ness." Here are the divisions of time which 
God ordained in the beginning: namely, the 
day and the night, seasons and years. Not a 
word is said about the religious observance of 
these periods of time. And is it not evident that 
there could not be? Man being made, as we 
have found, in the image and likeness of the di- 



and the Sabbath. 113 

vine nature of God, could do nothing from the 
beginning hut that which was holy. He could 
not be more holy or religious at one time than 
at other times, on one day more than on other 
days. When, however, he chose to forsake 
God, he was then unfitted for keeping any time 
holy. Yet there can be no question but that 
it would be necessary for man to observe the 
ingathering of crops and the planting of seeds 
in their appointed seasons. This, however, 
could not make one season or time more sacred 
or holy than any other. 

If there is any place in the Bible where a 
weekly sabbath should have been mentioned 
and commandment given for its observance, it 
is in connection with these other times, which 
are spoken of at this the very beginning of 
things; but it is passed by without the slightest 
notice. There is not an intimation that from 
the beginning until the commandment given at 
Sinai the weekly cycle was observed by special 
worship on one day more than on another. In 
all the history of this world as given in Gene- 
sis, from the account of creation to the time 



1 1 4 Divine Law 

when Israel was carried out of Egypt (Exodus 
1 6) , there is not the slightest hint that any man 
kept a sabbath-day or that God expected him 
to keep a sabbath. 
The season Gen. 2:2, 3 i s frequently 

for Sabbath i 

observance. quoted as a commandment to 

Adam and for all subsequent time, enjoining 
the observance of the seventh day upon man. 
Let us see whether these verses so teach. If 
they do, our previous thoughts and the doctrine 
herein presented are at fault. If they do not, 
then the observance of the seventh-day or of 
any other day as sabbath must find support else- 
where. 

It should be remembered that prior to the 
time of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt 
there was no written law. Moses was inspired 
of God to write a history of the beginning of 
things. This inspired account, with the laws 
given on Sinai, were to furnish Israel with a 
permanent record of God's work and will. The 
law commanding sabbath observance had been 
taught Israel, as we have before learned, prior 
to their hearing it from the Lord on Mount 



and the Sabbath. 1 1 5 

Sinai and the writing of the book of the law. 
At that time they were keeping sabbath, hav- 
ing been taught that their God was the Creator 
of the heaven and the earth, and that by ob- 
servance of the seventh day they were to es- 
tablish a memorial to the greatness of their 
God, who had delivered them from their ene- 
mies. When Moses, in writing about creation's 
week, reaches the account of God's rest from 
all his work, he says plainly, "And God blessed 
the seventh day [which is now given you as a 
sabbath], and sanctified it: because that in it 
he had rested from all his work which God 
created and made." Verse 3. 

The wording of this verse clearly implies 
that, when giving to Israel the command to ob- 
serve the sabbath, God selected and set apart 
this particular day and sanctified it for them 
as a weekly holiday, "because that in it he had 
rested from all his work." The language does 
not imply that God had blessed and sanctified the 
day in the beginning, but that his blessing and 
sanctification of the day at the time of giving the 
law was because the closing day of the week 



1 1 6 Divine Law 

marked the completion of his work in the be- 
ginning. God ended his work and rested from 
it at the close of creation's week. The rest 
was not because of weariness, but followed 
naturally in consequence of the fact that his 
work for man was finished. Everything there- 
after in the earth would be the development of 
God's purposes, which were represented in the 
things made at the beginning. The following 
crude illustration may serve to explain: Let 
us suppose a builder is engaged to erect some 
structure. During the process of building he 
might rest because of weariness, but would have 
to return to his work and could not rest from 
it until its completion. After finishing his work 
he could rest from it. Thus it was in the be- 
ginning. The seventh day was not appointed 
as a day of worship at that time. When God 
ended his work on the seventh day, he rested 
from it. It was not until God's people were 
finally led by the influence of environment to 
adopt idolatrous worship on a day especially 
dedicated by the heathen to the sun that it be- 
came necessary for God to appoint a distinctive 



and the Sabbath. 1 1 7 

day of worship along with other ceremonial 
forms of service calculated to remind Israel of 
the true God. The observance of the sabbath- 
day thus made a decided difference between 
Israel and the heathen; and, as we may read 
from Ezekiel 20, it thus became a sign between 
them and God. 
it is important Reader, if you are prejudiced, 
consistent. just be impartial for once, and 

read these verses (Gen. 2:2, 3) according to 
the rules governing the use of good language, 
noting carefully the circumstances under which 
the passage was given and also to whom it par- 
ticularly applied. In verse two may be noted 
the plain statement of a fact. All his work be- 
ing completed, God rested from it upon the sev- 
enth day — the seventh from the time he began 
the work of arranging this temporal home for 
man. In verse three the reason is given for 
choosing the seventh day as a sabbath at the 
time when the law covenant was made for Is- 
rael. To be sure, if one regards the ten com- 
mandments as binding in all ages upon all crea- 
ted intelligences in heaven and on earth, the 



1 1 8 Divine Larv 

same impression will be made upon his mind as 
though he were a Jew under the Sinaitic law. 
But in the consideration of this text it is mere 
folly to omit the circumstances and conditions 
under which and the time when it was written. 

Having considered these verses in the second 
of Genesis and finding in them no command 
for sabbath observance, we may read on to 
the sixteenth chapter of Exodus before finding 
another reference to the subject. Thus there 
is no evidence that Israel had ever known any- 
thing about the keeping of days, prior to the 
time when Moses was sent to deliver them from 
Egyptian bondage and instruct them regarding 
the true God. 

As additional support of my position, I give 
the following quotations from eminent scholars : 

William Paley, the English theologian and 
philosopher, who between the years of 1 785 
and 1802 wrote and published "Principles of 
Moral and Political Philosophy," "Natural 
Philosophy," and "View of the Evidences of 
Christianity," said: "The transactions in the 
wilderness above recited were the first actual 



and the Sabbath. 119 

institution of the sabbath. The sabbath is no- 
where mentioned, or even obscurely alluded to, 
either in the general history of the world before 
the call of Abraham, or in that of the first 
three Jewish patriarchs." See Wakefield's 
Theology. 

John Bunyan, who though he received but 
a meager education, was endowed by God 
with wisdom, and through his humble walk 
with God became a celebrated English writer, 
demands our consideration of what he said on 
the subject. Bunyan was a non-conformist. 
He was arrested in 1666 because of his faith, 
and imprisoned in Bedford until 1672. Dur- 
ing his incarceration he wrote the famous book, 
"The Pilgrim's Progress." Maintaining his 
views against the state religion of England 
caused him to be diligent in his research for 
facts, as well as in his devotion to God. He 
states clearly, "The seventh-day sabbath, 
therefore, was not from paradise, nor from na- 
ture, nor from the fathers, but from the wilder- 
ness and from Sinai." — Complete Works, 
page 892. 



1 20 Divine Law 

But we are not justified in our position 
merely because eminent men have made these 
statements regarding the non-observance of a 
sabbath prior to the covenant made with Is- 
rael at Sinai, but what we have previously 
quoted from the Word itself is our defense: 
namely, Gal. 3: 17-19: "And this I say, that 
the covenant, that was confirmed before of 
God in Christ, the law [given at Sinai], which 
was four hundred and thirty years after, can 
not disannul, that it should make the promise of 
none effect. For if the inheritance be of the 
law, it is no more of promise : but God gave it 
to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then 
serveth the law? It was added because of 
transgressions, till the seed [Christ] should 
come to whom the promise was made." Also 
Deut. 4 : 13; 1:4, and many other Scriptural 
evidences given throughout this treatise. 



and the Sabbath. 121 

CHAPTER X. 
God's Memorial. 

It is not strange that God should establish 
a memorial in the earth. Without some fixed 
means for knowing and remembering him who 
can create, man would be left to his own theory 
and speculation in these matters. It is self-evi- 
dent that we can not know anything concern- 
ing God except by revelation of some kind. 
Therefore let the devout child of God rejoice 
that he is not abandoned to the wisdom of 
foolish men. The Bible is very plain on these 
questions, and the Spirit also bears witness to 
the truth. But how may God become known 
and remembered? Surely not, as some teach, 
through the commemoration of events on cer- 
tain holy (?) days, such as sabbaths and at 
other so-called sacred times. Tens of thou- 
sands of witnesses have lived in all ages since 
days have come to be regarded as sacred and 
holy, who will tell us, and honestly too, that 
by the pious observance of days they have not 



122 Divine Law 

come to know God nor have thus found rest 
for the soul. 
no Man Hatn How, then, may we come to 
seen God. know God? . Can we meet 

him with open face and see him with the nat- 
ural eye? Has he thus ordained that we shall 
learn of him? No, for God is invisible. We 
may read of Moses that "by faith he forsook 
Egypt . . . and endured as seeing him who is 
invisible" (Heb. 1 1 : 27) ; also that Christ "is 
the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1 : 15). 
God has ordained a better and more enduring 
way to make himself known than through the 
natural sight of the eyes. 

The belief that any man has ever seen God 
is based on a speculative theory. Not even in 
the day of Adam's creation was he privileged 
to see the God of heaven. We may read from 
the apostle John that "no man hath seen God 
at any time. The only begotten Son, which 
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath de- 
clared him" (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). 
Nor was Christ ever visible to natural eyes, 
except as he appeared clothed in human flesh. 



and the Sabbath. 123 

The natural sight of man can not behold spir- 
itual beings. The account given in Gen. 3 : 8 
says that "they heard the voice [or sound] of 
the Lord God walking in the garden in the 
cool of the day." Qn this occasion Adam 
talked with God, but there is no evidence that 
he saw his person or form. We also read that 
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with 
God; but the widest stretch of the imagination 
could not persuade the intelligent mind that 
there was more than a spiritual relation between 
the two. 

God is The fact is that man has been 

Itoroalofl 

through Grace, made a little lower than the 

angels and clothed with a mortal body until 

that time of which Paul speaks to Timothy: 

"I give thee charge in the sight of God, who 

quickeneth all things, and before Jesus Christ, 

who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good 

confession; that thou keep this commandment 

without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing 

of the Lord Jesus Christ : . . . laying up in store 

a good foundation against the time to come . . . 

lay hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. 6: 13, 14, 



124 Divine Law 

1 9. It is now our privilege to "see through a glass 
darkly," but then we shall see face to face. 
It is now our privilege to know God in the 
spirit; then we shall see him even as he is. 
We may read in Rom. 1 : 20, "The invisible 
things of him [God] from the creation of the 
world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made, even his eternal power 
and Godhead." Therefore if we would know 
God, we must become acquainted with him 
through that source of knowledge which he 
has ordained from the beginning. Rotherham's 
translation says, "From the foundation of the 
world the occult things of God are seen, by the 
intellect, in the things he created, even his eter- 
nal power and divinity." In the Modern Eng- 
lish translation this text is rendered as follows: 
"Ever since the creation God's invisible at- 
tributes — I mean his eternal power and divine 
character — have been made visible and brought 
within man's apprehension by what he has made 
and done." 
how invisible It is clear that the apostle 

Tningra of God . 

Are seen. wishes to convey the thought 



and the Sabbath. 125 

that in this world God has established the means 
by which his eternal power, greatness, and love 
may be known. The "invisible things," "in- 
visible attributes," "divine character," "occult 
things of God," "eternal power and divinity," 
are to be seen in the material world and are 
still more fully displayed in the lives of men 
who are in harmony with the written Word 
of truth. 

This revelation of God's own self — his im- 
age and likeness — as we have seen before, was 
given to man by creation (see Chapter II). It 
was the purpose of God that it should be so. 
God's memorial would thus be established in 
the subordinate sphere which man was made 
to occupy. The prophet Hosea tells us that 
"Jehovah" is God's memorial name. "There- 
fore turn thou to thy God: keep kindness and 
justice, and wait for thy God continually." 
Chap. 12: 5, 6, A. R. V. It is God's nature 
to keep kindness and justice. God's character 
is in his name. He will not forsake those who 
put their trust in him ; neither can he show par- 
tiality in his dealing with the children of men. 



126 Divine Law 

"He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the 
good, and sendeth rain on the just and the 
unjust." Matt. 5 : 43-48. Though man has 
sinned, God still loves him. 
Israel Knew the When the Lord sent Moses 

Value of 

God's Name. to deliver Israel from Egyp- 
tian bondage, the Lord gave them his memorial. 
"I Am That I Am. . . . Jehovah the God of 
your fathers, God of Abraham, the God of 
Isaac, the God of Jacob, . . . this is my me- 
morial unto all generations." Exod. 3: 14, 
15. The children of Israel understood the 
meaning of this passage, for they had pre- 
served by tradition God's tender and gracious 
dealings with their fathers. They would be 
assured that if Moses came from God and 
would lead them out from Egyptian servitude 
to a place where they could serve their fa- 
ther's God, they would be free from the self- 
interest of their enemies. But little did they 
appreciate what changes were necessary on 
their part, nor how these changes must be 
brought about. They were much like some 
people today, who see the beautiful theory of 



and the Sabbath. 127 

the gospel, but never wholly yield to God, so 
that he can write his name in their hearts and 
minds. Israel was willing and glad to be free 
from their enemies, but did not understand that 
they themselves were stiff-necked and selfish. 
God's ways are so high above our own that 
it is not possible for us to enjoy them until 
we are made like him. The Psalmist ex- 
presses praise to God thus: "The works of 
the Lord are great, sought out of all that have 
pleasure therein. His work is honorable and 
glorious, and his righteousness endureth for- 
ever. He hath made his works to be remem- 
bered;' Psa. 1 1 : 2-4. 
how His worts How has he made his works 

Aro 

Bemembered. to be remembered? By his 
name — his character — being written, at the 
first, by creation in Adam, and, since then, in 
the lives of all men who have turned from sin 
to serve the Lord, by the Spirit, and by the 
godly lives of Spirit-filled men — "holy men of 
God" — in whom God has especially worked. 
These have been the memorials — monuments — 
"my witnesses," says Christ — of God's com- 



128 Divine Law 

passion and grace. Recognizing these wonder- 
ful works of God, the Psalmist points to them 
as God's memorial and says, "He hath made 
his wonderful works to be remembered." 
Neither does the Lord purpose that his name 
shall ever be lost from view. Therefore we 
may read in Psa. 135: 13, "Thy name, O Je- 
hovah, endureth forever; thy memorial name, 
O Jehovah, throughout all generations." "Je- 
hovah the Lord of hosts; Jehovah is his 
memorial name," says the prophet Hosea. 
Names Bible names stand for char- 

Bepresent 

character. acter. Thus the name or Je- 

hovah represents his character — love. Love 
is expressed in all of God's dealing. As we 
have already noted, man was made in God's 
image and likeness. The Lord has purposed 
from the beginning that man should possess 
this character. When man fell into sin, the 
way of salvation was opened through Christ, 
so that the divine nature could bfe restored. 
Thus has God manifested his loving purpose to 
all the world in all ages. But not only so ; his 
love, being restored to those who accept his 



and the Sabbath. 129 

salvation, is an abiding memorial, witnessing 
in the heart (Eph. 1:12-14). In all genera- 
tions of the old dispensation the promise of God 
was sure. Again and again God showed his 
love by remembering the promise concerning 
Christ (Gen. 3: 15). The acceptance of that 
promise in past ages was the means of turning 
men from sin to godliness. In the Christian, or 
new covenant, dispensation God's memorial 
has been magnified in the lives of his saints, be- 
cause his law is written in the heart (Heb. 8: 
7-13; Jer. 31 : 3-34). The privilege of the 
gospel dispensation is: "If a man love me, he 
will keep my words: and my Father will love 
him, and we will come unto him and make our 
abode with him." Also, "Behold, I stand at 
the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice, 
and open the door, / will come in to him 9 and 
will sup with him, and he with me." 
The church Xh e writing of God's supreme 

God's Monument 

of Love. law in the believer's heart is 

the fulfilment of God's promise to the individ- 
ual. It is witnessed by the indwelling of Christ 
and God through the Holy Spirit. Thus a 



130 Divine Law 

complete transformation from sinfulness to right- 
eousness is wrought. The memorial of God is 
not the observance of times or of days at stated 
intervals, weekly, monthly, or yearly. All time 
is holy to the man who is made holy through 
the effectual blood of Christ. All work in 
which a Christian may properly engage is holy 
unto the Lord. All holy days of the old dis- 
pensation have lost their significance in the 
glorious light of the gospel. God's name — his 
character — his love, is to be written in the be- 
liever's heart. This is God's memorial. His 
Spirit is to witness with our spirits that we are 
the children of God, and this witness is God's 
memorial to the one who obeys the Lord. God's 
saving grace witnessing through his church is 
his memorial, his monument, of love to the lost 
and ruined world. 



and the Sabbath. 131 

CHAPTER XL 

Our Rest. 

"In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, 
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; 
to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall 
be glorious." Isa. 11: 10. This prophecy 
brings to our attention a time when the Gentiles 
should seek a glorious rest through the root 
(Christ) of Jesse. It is evident that until that 
time the rest spoken of could not be given. 
"In that day there shall be ... an ensign of 
the people: and his rest shall be glorious [or 
glory]." There was rest (the keeping of a 
sabbath) for Israel, through whom this prophecy 
came, and there was glory in it, too; but that 
rest, together with other things of the law, 
pointed to a time when another rest should be 
provided through Christ. A standard would 
be set up — a standard, not for one nation alone, 
but for the people in general. This manifestly 
indicates that there was to come a change in 
times and in conditions, and that this change 



132 Divine Law 

was to be accompanied with a more glorious 
rest than that of the former days. It is to this 
division of time, from the beginning of which 
a more glorious rest has been provided, that 
we call your attention. 
The First Through sin man lost his 

Gospel sermon, righteousness, a n d immedi- 
ately he began to cover his shame with the 
things of this world. "They sewed fig-leaves 
together, and made themselves aprons." This 
is just what the sinner today is doing. When 
one is void of righteousness, he gives heed to 
the allurements of this world, bedecks himself 
with all that he chooses, and, as in the case of 
Adam and Eve, hides himself amid the things 
of this world, until the grace of God through 
the gospel of Christ seeks him out and brings 
conviction to his soul, causing him to know 
that there is no rest outside of Christ. It is 
rest that the people of this world are seeking. 
They are endeavoring to gratify the longing of 
the heart with vain and temporal things, but 
their spirits, because of unrest, continue to cry 
out for peace. Adam knew that he was naked, 



and the Sabbath. 133 

and he tried to supply his needs. So it is with 
the sinner today. There is something lacking 
which no amount of personal effort can sup- 
ply; no one but Christ can give the needed 
help. 

When Christ found Adam and Eve trying 
to supply their needs with the things of this 
world and to hide among the trees of the 
garden, he manifested his love, which was still 
extended toward them (see John 3: 16), and 
promised them a Redeemer (Gen. 3: 15). 
Previously, however, he preached to them the 
first gospel sermon that this old world ever 
heard. "Where art thou?" he began. "Hast 
thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded 
thee that thou shouldst not eat?" Adam re- 
sponded with contrite heart. How could he 
do otherwise, since he saw that God still loved 
him? He acknowledged the facts as they were. 
"The woman whom thou gavest to be with 
me, she gave me of the tree and / did eat." 
This was Adam's honest confession. No min- 
ister can more faithfully point out sin, than did 
the Lord. No sinner can do more than con- 



1 34 Divine Law 

fess and forsake sin, as did Adam. The Lord 
then turned to the woman. Note her confes- 
sion: "The serpent beguiled me, and / did eat." 
Could Eve have done more than that? Did 
she not confess facts as they were? 

When both had thus humbly confessed the 
circumstances connected with their sin and 
had repented toward God, the promise of a 
Savior, who in due time would die in their 
stead, and the curse placed upon the serpent 
was announced to them. It was clearly stated 
that they and their descendants should have 
trouble and conflict with evil, but by a prom- 
ise they were assured that the serpent's head 
should be bruised through Christ. 
The First Then the Lord removed their 

Typical Offering _ . 

for sin. fig-leal clothing, the work or 

man's hand, and placed upon them coats that 
he had made from the skins of animals which, 
in all probability, they had been instructed to 
offer in sacrifice. Thus the Lord prefigured 
that in due time he would again clothe with 
the garments of divine righteousness those who 
believed his promise. The shed blood of the 



and the Sabbath. 135 

animals that had provided a sacrifice repre- 
sented the blood of Christ, shed in behalf of 
a fallen race for the cleansing of man's guilty 
conscience and defiled heart. Therefore we 
read in Psa. 132: 9, 16: "Let thy priests be 
clothed with righteousness." "Let all thy 
saints shout for joy/' Again, "I will clothe 
her priests with salvation, and her saints shall 
shout for joy." Thus righteousness and salva- 
tion are synonymous terms, and form the cloth- 
ing of those who serve God. Also, in Revela- 
tion 19, where the triumph of God's people is 
given, the apostle witnesses a great host of 
people in heaven, saying, "Allelulia: salvation, 
and glory, and honor, and power, unto the 
Lord our God. Let us be glad and rejoice, 
and give honor to him : for the marriage of the 
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself 
ready. And to her was granted that she should 
be arrayed in fine linen, . . . and the fine linen 
is the righteousness of the saints." 
two Epochs Time from the days of Adam 

Divide the ft 

A^es. to the close of the present age 

may be divided into two epochs. Each of 



136 Divine Law 

these epochs may be subdivided into periods. 
One epoch spans history from Adam to Christ ; 
the second spans the time from Christ to the 
end of mortal history. In the first epoch the 
gospel was in promise. The gospel promise 
was made to Adam that the seed of the woman 
should bruise the serpent's head. This prom- 
ise, believed and acted upon by faith, brought 
to those who accepted it the assurance that 
they were the children of God. This prom- 
ise made to Adam was renewed (Gen. 6:18) 
to Noah, who believed it and prepared an ark 
to the saving of his house. Thus through Noah 
the human race was continued upon earth. Next 
we find Abraham entrusted with the same prom- 
ise of God concerning a coming Savior. He 
believed this promise, and his faith was ac- 
counted unto him for righteousness. 
Israel Made tue Until the time of Abraham 
Repository. fae gospel had not been com- 

mitted to a family, race, or nation whom God 
ordained should be the repository of his oracles 
and priests to the world. To Abraham and his 
posterity, however, this call was made, and to 



and the Sabbath. 137 

him was given the first sign, or seal, which sepa- 
rated him and his posterity from the people of 
the world. This was the seal of circumcision. 
His righteousness, however, was not more than 
that which Adam enjoyed after his repentance 
toward God, nor than what those enjoyed who 
lived godly from the time of Adam to Noah. 
Neither did his righteousness differ from that 
of those who believed the promise of God at 
any time during the law dispensation. All were 
saved by grace through faith in the promise — 
Christ, who was typified by their sacrifices — 
and looked forward to the time of the blessed 
privileges that we now enjoy. 

When Abraham's descendants grew into a 
multitude, God made of them a nation, and to 
this nation he gave the law, having another 
sign, or seal — the sabbath, to be observed upon 
the seventh day of each week. The evidence 
of their righteousness was the keeping of this 
law, which Paul calls a schoolmaster leading 
them to, and preserving them in, a knowledge 
of the promise of Christ, "till the seed should 
come to whom the promise was made." 



138 Divine Law 

circumcision N one acquainted with the 

and Sabbath-day 

tm cnrist. gospel will hold to circumcis- 

ion as a necessary rite to the Christian's faith. 
Just so should it be with the law of Moses — 
sabbath-day included. Circumcision was a 
fleshly seal, or sign, of the righteous faith of 
Abraham. It served the same purpose for all 
of Israel's race, before the law was given at 
Sinai and after that, until the opening of the 
Christian era. Many, however, received their 
sign, but did not continue in righteousness. For 
this reason, we hear the Lord saying, "Cir- 
cumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart," 
"and think not to say within yourselves, We 
have Abraham to our father." Deut. 10: 16; 
Matt. 3 : 9. Those who lived near to God 
recognized in Christ the fulfilment of all their 
types and shadows. Christ was the embodi- 
ment of rest typified by the sabbath of the 
Mosaic law. Those who received Christ into 
their hearts by faith, no longer needed the seal 
of circumcision — the sign of righteousness. 
Christ, received into the heart of believers, be- 
came their rest. Sabbath means rest — not 



and the Sabbath. 139 

physical rest, but spiritual rest. Any man, 
however much distressed in spirit, can rest from 
physical labor on one day in the week. This 
rest of soul was not given in its fulness to the 
children of Israel, nor could it be received until 
the fulfilment of the promise under the new 
covenant. 
The New Christ's death brought in the 

1 * new dispensation and fulfilled 

the prophecy of Jeremiah which says: "Behold, 
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make 
a new covenant with the house of Israel, and 
with the house of Judah; not according to the 
covenant that I made with their fathers in the 
day that I took them by the hand to bring them 
out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant 
they brake, although I was an husband unto 
them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the 
covenant that I will make with the house of 
Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, I will 
put my law in their inward parts, and write 
it in their hearts; and will be their God, and 
they shall be my people. And they shall teach 
no more every man his neighbor and every 



140 Divine Law 

man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for 
they shall all know me, from the least of them 
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I 
will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember 
their sin no more." Jer. 31 : 31-34. 

To this covenant Paul refers in Heb. 8: 
8-12 and teaches that it is now our privilege to 
enjoy the promised blessings. These are the 
blessings to which the sacrifice and the cloth- 
ing made of skins in the Garden of Eden 
pointed. This is that which was so long de- 
ferred and which so many holy men of old 
longed to see. The receiving of the new cove- 
nant experience gives rest, and fills and satis- 
fies one with the grace of God. It restores 
the divine nature, which Adam lost, and makes 
the things of God so attractive that one loses 
all pleasure in things of the world. In short, 
the soul enters into rest. 

The New I n Hebrews 3 and 4 P a u 1 

Covenant Best. $hows what ^ fu j ness of ^ 

new covenant rest is — the earnest of our inheri- 
tance — fulness of rest — that we receive in the 
blessing of sanctification. Our final reward 



and the Sabbath. 141 

comes after a life of faith and service. To il- 
lustrate the way by which we enter into it, he 
cites the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness 
and their passage over Jordan. "To whom 
sware he [God] that they should not enter 
into his rest, but to them that believe not? So 
we see that they could not enter in because 
of unbelief." Chap. 3 : 18, 19. He then con- 
tinues: "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise 
being left us of entering into his [God's] rest, 
any of you should seem to come short of it. 
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well 
as unto them: but the word preached did not 
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them 
that heard it. For we which have believed do 
enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in 
my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: al- 
though the works were finished from the foun- 
dation of the world. For he spake in a certain 
place of the seventh day on this wise, And God 
did rest the seventh day from all his works. 
And in this place again, If they shall enter into 
my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that 
some must enter therein, and they to whom it 



142 Divine Law 

[the glad tidings, A. R. V.] was first preached 
entered not in because of unbelief: again, he 
limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To- 
day, after so long a time ; as it is said, Today if 
ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 
For if Jesus [Joshua, margin] had given them 
rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken 
of another day. There remaineth therefore a 
rest to the people of God. For he that is en- 
tered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his 
own works, as God did from his. Let us labor 
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man 
fall after the same example of unbelief." Heb. 
4: 1-11. 
Present Gospel Paul clearly shows by this in- 
spired argument that whatever 
blessing came to the people of Israel, within 
their national bounds, was not the fulfilment 
of God's promise to give rest. His rest begins 
in the renewal of the soul by the Holy Spirit. 
The epistle to the Hebrews is a treatise on the 
high and lofty privileges extended to all 
through Christ's atonement. Indeed, Chris- 
tian perfection is the key-note of the whole 



and the Sabbath. 143 

New Testament, and throughout the Old 
Testament this golden thread (Christian perfec- 
tion) may be found in promise. 

When sin first entered the world, the prom- 
ise of Christ — the restoration of righteousness 
to the fallen race — was assured; but Adam 
and his posterity were not at once to receive 
again the indwelling peace of God's righteous- 
ness through the renewal of the Holy Spirit. 
The Lord saw fit that the world should taste 
the results of disobedience. Therefore he made 
promise that in due time Christ would die for 
them, and that when through him the penalty 
for sin had been paid, then those who in all 
ages past had died in faith believing the prom- 
ise, would be worthy to receive eternal life. 
Therefore we read that of the salvation which 
the Christian now enjoys "the prophets have 
inquired and searched diligently, who prophe- 
sied of the grace that should come unto you; 
searching what [time], or what manner of 
time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did 
signify, when it testified beforehand the suffer- 
ings of Christ, and the glory that should fol- 



144 Divine Law 

low : unto whom it was revealed, that not unto 
themselves, but unto us they did minister the 
things which are now reported unto you by 
them that have preached the gospel unto you 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; 
which things the angels desire to look into." 1 
Pet. 1 : 10-12. To this benefit, which we may 
now enjoy, the prophets looked forward, and 
rejoiced through hope in the promise. 
a Present There is a reward and rest 

Precious . . - 

Experience. awaiting all who love God; 

but righteousness, Christian perfection, the re- 
newal of the divine nature, and peaceful soul 
rest we may now enjoy. It is the purchase 
of the precious blood of Christ and may be our 
present experience. "Whereby are given unto 
us exceeding great and precious promises: that 
by these ye might be partakers of the divine na- 
ture, having escaped the corruption that is in 
the world through lust." 2 Pet. 1 : 2-4. 

These texts, you will note, refer to a pres- 
ent experience and privilege. The divine na- 
ture is not something to be looked for in the 
future and that can not now be enjoyed. To- 



and the Sabbath. 145 

day we have the privilege of escaping the cor- 
ruption that is in the world through the lust of 
the carnal heart. If we delay entering in, we 
shall suffer loss just as certainly as did the Jews 
that entered not into Canaan because of unbe- 
lief. Paul thus admonished the Ephesian 
brethren: "Be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind, and put on the new man, which after 
God is created in righteousness and true holi- 
ness." Eph. 4: 23, 24. It is by the receiving 
of a new spirit that we put on the new man — 
the experience of complete present salvation. 
Those Jews who believed the promise looked 
forward in hope to the time when this experi- 
ence for us would be accomplished through 
Christ, they knowing that it meant salvation for 
them also. Into this deeper, richer, sweeter 
experience to be found in the blessing of holi- 
ness, we who live in the present dispensation 
may enter through the blood of Christ. 

This is the promised rest. It was preached 
first in the Garden of Eden, and it has been 
preached from that time forward. This is the 
rest of the gospel — a rest which all may enjoy. 



146 Divine Law 

"We which have believed do enter into rest" 
Through him who calmed the raging storm and 
said, "Peace be still," we find this rest 
in the blessing of perfect holiness. It is a rest 
that gives quietness and assurance forever. 
Isaiah prophesied concerning it, saying, "And 
in that day there shall be a root [Christ] of 
Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the 
people. To it shall the Gentiles seek: and his 
rest shall be glorious." This refers to our spir- 
itual rest, this never-ending sabbath of the gos- 
pel. It was never fully enjoyed under the 
law. Under the law the gospel was by prom- 
ise, but now it is our privilege to enter in, to 
enjoy all the gospel benefits. The seers of old 
who prophesied concerning the gospel never 
enjoyed its blessings. Paul says, "If Jesus 
[Joshua] had given them [Israel] rest, then 
would he not afterward have spoken of another 
day." The sabbath rest provided for in the 
law of Moses typifies a certain day, limited to 
the time when the gospel in its fulness should 
be ushered in. That day is now ours through 
the gospel. It is a never-ending experience. 



and the Sabbath. 147 

No longer need we look forward, as did the 
prophets of old, and desire the blessings of rest 
and Christian perfection; Christ is now ours 
in all the fulness of his love. 

"All this world, its wealth and honor, can not 
sate the human breast, 
But when filled with God our Father, every 
want is fully blest. 
"Can a bird drink up the ocean, thirsting still 
from shore to shore? 
Or the God of all creation leave my soul still 
craving more? 

"All my soul can wish forever, I may find 
in Christ replete; 
Every blessing and the Giver in my peaceful 
bosom meet. 
"Would my soul could more encompass heav- 
en s glory willed for me, 
Oh, the love of God, so precious! 'tis a deep 
and shoreless sea." 



Divine Law and the Sabbath. 149 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Rest that Remaineth. 

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, 
we are of all men most miserable." 1 Cor. 
15:19. It would seem all but impossible for 
one to get the idea that all of God's blessings 
are given for our physical comfort in this pres- 
ent world, but there are a few people even in 
our day who have their entire affection cen- 
tered on good feelings in this present life. Such 
persons forget, or do not know, or do not un- 
derstand, that "in the world ye shall have 
tribulation." The Savior would not have us 
deceived into thinking that, because he has 
overcome the world* we, by our acceptance of 
him, are to have no difficulties to encounter. 
But amid all the perplexities, difficulties, and 
tribulations we may be encouraged by his 
words, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome 
the world." All men have tribulation — the 
saint and also the sinner. All men have their 



150 Divine Law 

perplexities and their temporal difficulties. The 
contrast between the saint and the sinner as re- 
gards the manner in which they grapple with 
the disadvantages of the present has been thus 
beautifully expressed: 

"One path is theirs and ours — of toil and 
care — 
But we are home along, and they their bur- 
dens bear; 
Footsore, heart-wear]), faint they on the way, 
Mute in their sorrow, while we \neel and 

pray; 
Glad are they for a stone on which to rest, 
While we lie pillowed on the Father's 
breast." 

If it were only temporal difficulties from 
which one desires to be liberated, a few dol- 
lars could easily adjust the matter. But the 
supplying of every temporal want would not 
change the sinful heart, nor bring peace or rest 
to the spirit. Nothing but a release from a 
guilty conscience can quiet the troubled soul. 
Every temporal burden grows light and is lost 
from sight to the one who has the grace pro- 



and the Sabbath. 151 

vided for in salvation. While it remains true 
that ''all who will live godly in Christ Jesus 
shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3: 12), it is 
also true that one may bear every insult to the 
Spirit of grace and every temporal hardship 
without the loss of that peace which comes 
through salvation. This peace results from re- 
ceiving "the earnest of our inheritance." It is 
the blessing that one enjoys in the experience 
of entire sanctification. 

But all the fulness of peace that we may 
now enjoy, though it satisfies every longing of 
the soul, is as nothing when compared with 
that which God has prepared for those who 
love him. If under adverse conditions the Lord 
can give such peace through the Holy Spirit, 
what will be the glory that awaits the saints of 
God? In Eph. 1:12 Paul says: "That we 
should be to the praise of his glory, who first 
trusted in Christ. In whom also after that ye 
believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit 
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheri- 
tance, until the redemption of the purchased 
possession unto the praise of his glory." 



152 Divine Larv 

So" en' "wiente Y ° U n0te that ™ *™ ™ in- 

xing-dom is heritance to which we look 

Given up to 

God. forward, and that that power 

of the Holy Spirit which we may now enjoy is 
only the "earnest," or the assurance that even as 
Christ fulfilled the promise of God to Abra- 
ham through the blood of the everlasting cove- 
nant, so we look forward to the ultimate tri- 
umph of the church, "when he shall have de- 
livered up the kingdom unto God, even the 
Father; when he [Christ] shall have put down 
all rule and all authority and power. For he 
must reign until he hath put all enemies under 
his feet. The last enemy that shall be de- 
stroyed is death. For he [God] hath put all 
things under his [Christ's] feet; but when he 
saith all things are put under him, it is mani- 
fest that he is excepted which did put all 
things under him. And when all things 
shall be subdued unto him [Christ], then 
shall the Son also himself be subject unto 
him [God] that put all things under him, 
that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. 15: 
24-28. 



and the Sabbath. 153 

our comfort The kingdom shall be deliv- 

and Consolation i . /^ 1 1 .1 

Concerning the ered U P to (j ° d when the 

Dea(L resurrection takes place. Paul 

says, "If in this life only we have hope in 
Christ, we are of all men most miserable." It 
was for our encouragement as well as for that 
of the Thessalonian brethren that he wrote: 
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, 
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, 
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have 
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died 
and rose again, even so them also which sleep 
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this 
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that 
we which are alive and remain unto the com- 
ing of the Lord shall not prevent them which 
are asleep. For the Lord himself shall de- 
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
of the archangel, and with the trump of God: 
and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up 
together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with 
the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another 



154 Divine Law 

with these words." 1 Thess. 4: 13-18. 
Exceeding Great With all the blessings that we 

Promises ."'«.'. 

of God. may be permitted to enjoy in 

this world, we also have distresses. We are 
encompassed by the enemies of God. who 
wreak out their vengeance on his children. But 
we are admonished by the Savior's words, "Be 
not afraid of them that kill the body, and af- 
ter that have no more that they can do." Luke 
12:4; Matt. 10: 28. The hope to which we 
are pointed forward is that future state in the 
eternal world, where changes never come. 
Again Paul says, "We know that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
have a building of God, an house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. 
5:1. John also speaks of this glorious future 
rest in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation: 
"I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the 
first heaven and the first earth were passed 
away; and there was no more sea. And I 
John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, com- 
ing down from God out of heaven, prepared 
as a bride adorned for her husband. And I 



and the Sabbath. 155 

heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Be- 
hold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and 
he will dwell with them, and they shall be 
his people, and God himself shall be with them, 
and be their God. And God shall wipe away 
all tears from their eyes; and there shall be 
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain: for the 
former things are passed away. And he that 
sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all 
things new. And he said unto me, Write : for 
these words are true and faithful. And he 
said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will 
give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of 
water of life freely. He that overcometh shall 
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and 
he shall be my son." Rev. 21 : 2-7. 
■mis Temporal Peter also, speaking of these 

World Passes ,i . "-ni t i 

away at very things, says : 1 he Lord 

the End. j s not s l ac k concerning his 

promise, as some men count slackness; but is 
long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should come to re- 



156 Divine Law 

pentance. But the day of the Lord will come 
as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth 
also and the works that are therein shall be 
burned up. Seeing then that all these things 
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons 
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and 
godliness, looking for and hasting unto the com- 
ing of the day of God, wherein the heavens be- 
ing on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, 
according to his promise, look for new heavens 
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look 
for such things, be diligent that ye may be 
found of him in peace, without spot, and blame- 
less. And account that the long-suffering of 
our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved 
brother Paul also according to the wisdom 
given unto him hath written unto you." 2 Pet. 
3:9-15. 

Isaiah also, prophesying of these things, 
said, "Behold I create new heavens and a new 



and the Sabbath. 157 



Assurance of a earth : and the former shall 
New s 
and a 



New Heaven . 1 i 1 

not be remembered, nor come 



New Earth. j nto m j nc J g ut ^ e ye g J a J an J 

rejoice forever in that which I create: for I 
create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a 
joy." Isa. 65: 17, 18. In that blessed world 
there will be no weeping because of the op- 
pression of the enemy. There will then be no 
remembrance of the former things. Those who 
are accounted worthy to sit down with Abra- 
ham and Isaac and Jacob and all the apostles, 
will there reap the harvest of their labors in 
this life, and with those whom they have been 
instrumental in bringing to a knowledge of the 
gospel truth, they will enjoy eternity in the 
presence of their God. 
Tne puiness of The glorious hope of the fu- 
^esent"* OUr ture * s tru ^ encouraging, but 
Privilege. only those who rejoice through 

the Spirit in the blessings provided for those 
who love him will ever reach that home. "Let 
us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us 
of entering into his rest any of you should 
seem to come short of it . . . for we which do 



158 Divine Law 

believe do enter into rest." This rest, as we 
have found, was finished and given to Adam 
at the beginning. When he forfeited it through 
sin, it still remained fixed in the purpose of 
God. Now we may enter into it through 
Christ, and enjoy all the fulness of the Spirit 
until we enter upon the glory of the everlasting 
kingdom which according to his eternal pur- 
pose has been prepared from the foundation 
of the world. 



and the Sabbath. 159 

CHAPTER XIII. 

God's Eternal Purpose. 

The term "law" has a very wide range of 
uses in the Bible. From God, who is supreme 
and the creator of all things, emanate laws 
which are spiritual. In creation these were im- 
planted in the nature of man, making him like 
God in nature and subject to his will. In 
the word "love," as we have learned, we have 
the most comprehensive expression of this spir- 
itual nature. "Love worketh no ill to his neigh- 
bor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 
Man's having been given a divine nature and 
yet having been created upon a subordinate 
plane made it necessary, as we have seen, that 
additional laws be given to regulate his social 
relations to his fellow creatures. These sub- 
ordinate laws also came from God. 

pour codes Though sin entered into the 

of Laws. wor J d) the purpose Q f Q oc J f Qr 

man's spiritual and social relationship could 



160 Divine Larv 

not change, and when the way of salvation had 
been made known, there was called into use 
a third system of laws. These were purely 
ceremonial and typical in their nature. They 
regulated the service toward God of those 
who in faith believed his promises and looked 
forward to the coming of the Redeemer. Since 
the promises concerning Christ the Savior have 
been fulfilled, the ceremonial services, which 
were commanded by law for the believers in 
the Old Testament dispensation, are no more 
required; a new code of laws for the new dis- 
pensation has come into use. Besides these 
laws, there were regulations necessary for gov- 
erning civil relationship. Man, having fallen 
into sin, had lost his divine character, and in 
consequence it became necessary among men to 
fix bounds beyond which the individual could 
not pass without suffering penalty. These laws 
for governing sinful men are civil in their na- 
ture. Thus it will be clearly seen that there 
are four systems of laws which today govern 
the affairs in this world, and neither system is 
without the supervision of the Lord. 



and the Sabbath. 161 

isto power but It may be said by some that 
of Go<L in the civil realm men frame 

and administer law, and that God does not, nor 
can, interfere. Therefore we call your atten- 
tion to Romans 13, which says: "There is no 
power but of God. Whosover, therefore, re- 
sisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of 
God, and they that resist shall receive to them- 
selves damnation; for rulers are not a terror to 
good works, but to evil. Wilt thou then not 
be afraid of the power? do that which is good, 
and thou shalt have praise of the same; for 
he [the ruling power] is the minister of God 
to thee for good, . . . wherefore ye must needs be 
subject, not only for wrath, but also for con- 
science sake ; for this cause pay ye tribute also, 
for they are God's ministers attending continu- 
ally unto this very thing." Rom. 13 : 1-6. After 
carefully reading this scripture and parallel 
passages no fair-minded person will question 
that the civil power is a part of God's govern- 
ment in the world, and that "the Most High 
ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to 
whomsoever he will." Dan. 4: 17. 



162 Divine Law 

The Term Law Between these several systems 

as Used in 

the Bible. of law Bible-readers often 

make no distinction. In this they make a great 
mistake that hinders their understanding of 
truth. All of these systems are referred to as 
the laws of God when applied to the govern- 
ment of the children of Israel. The ten-com- 
mandment law applied particularly to the na- 
tion to whom it was given. It formed the basis 
of civil government for Israel both before and 
after they became a kingdom. But the ten 
commandments did not contain all the laws 
that Israel were expected to obey. There were 
hundreds of commandments besides the ten. 
The covenant made with the children of Is- 
rael at Sinai included more or less of the prin- 
ciples of the four systems of law above men- 
tioned — supreme, social, civil, and ceremonial. 
An unbiased and thorough examination of the 
terms "the law," "the law of Moses," "the 
law of the Lord," "the law of God," "the law 
and the prophets," "thy law," etc., in both Old 
and New Testaments, will easily satisfy any 
fair-minded person that these terms do not al- 



and the Sabbath. 163 

ways refer to the same particular division of the 
system. All emanate from the principles of 
the supreme law, which modified the relation- 
ship of man to God. Therefore, as we have 
said before, the term "law" has a flexible use 
throughout the Bible, and phrases wherein it is 
used do not always in themselves indicate which 
system is meant. 
Matt. 5: 17 We must deal with the sub- 

Explained. j ect Q f J aw f rQm ^ stanc [.. 

point of principle. As we pass from the one 
dispensation into the other, those laws which 
belong only to the old can not be regarded 
as binding upon the believers in the new dis- 
pensation. This is self-evident. When Christ 
taught the people as recorded in the fifth to the 
seventh chapters of Matthew, he clearly dis- 
tinguished between the civil law, which was 
given for the Jewish nation only, and the eter- 
nal and universal principles of the moral or spir- 
itual law of God. The teaching of Christ was 
so in contrast with the teaching of the scribes 
and the Pharisees that the Savior (noticing the 
effect of his words on his hearers) abruptly 



164 Divine Law 

stopped in the midst of his sermon to remark, 
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, 
or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but 
to fulfill." Matt. 5: 17. 

It should be remembered that the whole aim 
of the Mosaic law was benevolent and that 
Christ's teachings were in harmony with its 
righteous basic principles, but, as we have be- 
fore pointed out, there were included in it civil 
laws and sanctions applicable within the nation 
alone. These were rigorously enforced. With 
the opening of the gospel dispensation God's 
purpose for Israel as a nation was to close. 
Thereafter the spiritual blessings that came 
through Israel by Christ were to be extended 
to all nations of the world. "In thee," said 
the Lord to Abraham, "shall all the nations 
of the earth be blest." Israel was no longer 
to be favored as God's peculiar people above 
the people of other nations. Israel was there- 
after no longer to be the repository of the 
oracles of God. A kingdom bound together, 
not by civil covenant, but by the power of the 
Spirit — a kingdom of grace — was to be made 



and the Sabbath. 1 65 

visible through the ministry of Christ. Hie 
middle wall of partition (constitutional laws, 
see Eph. 2: 14, 16) between Jew and Gentile 
was to be broken down. From among every 
nation, tongue, and people, believers were 
thenceforth to be gathered out to partake freely 
of the blessings of grace. 

You will note, too, that in Matthew, chap- 
ters 5-7, Christ contrasts this doctrine of love 
— the law of God — the basis of righteousness 
upon which the old covenant was founded, 
with the civil sanctions that Israel had learned 
through the instruction of "them of old time." 
Jesus pointed to the fact that while the law of 
"old time" had said, "Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor," it also taught, "Thou shalt hate 
thine enemy," "an eye for an eye and a tooth 
for a tooth." Thus it may be plainly seen 
that the law of Moses had jurisdiction over 
those who did not purpose in their hearts to be 
righteous; and since Israel was a civil nation, 
the sanctions of the law must be meted out so 
that evil might thus be restricted. Under the 
gospel vengeance is not meted out to the ,of- 



166 Divine Law 

fender of the law of righteousness until He 
shall come who will give every man according 
as his work shall be (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 
22: 12). 

The confusion which exists as to the import 
of Matt. 5 : 1 7 is due to the fact that some ex- 
positors have wrongly applied it to the cere- 
monial law as distinct from the ten command- 
ments, while others have held that the deca- 
logue is "the law" spoken of, but that nothing 
else is referred to. Both positions are wrong, 
for "the law," as we shall proceed to prove, 
includes not only the entire law of Moses but 
the basic principles of the supreme law as well. 
Christ ruifiued The mission of Christ was to 

the law and . 

the Prophetg. bring lire and immortality to 
light, and through the gospel to place the bless- 
ings of salvation within the reach of man. By 
his perfect life Christ fulfilled all the require- 
ments of the law of the Spirit of life, which 
law, through Christ, has power to transform a 
sinner and make him free from the law of sin 
and death. These laws (the law of the Spirit 
of life and the law of sin and death) existed, 



and the Sabbath. 1 67 

as we have seen, long before the law covenant 
was given on Sinai. Certain prophecies were 
fulfilled and the force of the Sinaitic laws was 
ended by the sacrifice of Christ, but he did not 
come to change nor destroy anything that the 
prophets had spoken. The mission of Jesus as 
stated by himself was to fulfil ; and to fulfil, as 
we shall find later, signified not only to make 
full or complete, but also to magnify and make 
honorable. These prophecies and promises 
from God concerning Christ were committed 
to Israel, who through spiritual neglect alone 
finally conceived a very distorted application of 
them and in consequence did not recognize their 
fulfilment in Christ the Savior of men (see 
John 1:10, 11). Therefore Christ said in 
substance, "These truths that I am teaching are 
the true, eternal law [see Matt. 7: 12], and 
my mission in the earth is a fulfilment of the 
prophecies that holy men from the beginning 
have uttered." 
Matt. 5si8 Reader, if you have preju- 

Expiamed. dice, will you lay it aside 

while we notice together verse 1 8, about which 



168 Divine Law 

there has been much controversy? In Luke 
16:16, 17 we find another account of the 
Savior's teaching on this point: "The law and 
the prophets were until John: since that time 
the kingdom of God is preached, and every 
man presseth into it. And it is easier for heaven 
and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to 
fail." John was a man sent from God on a 
special mission; he preached the "gospel of the 
kingdom" This was a new thing. Never had 
it been preached before. The promise of the 
kingdom had been preached, but now the time 
had come to preach the kingdom. Christ said, 
"And every man presseth into it." In due 
time Christ came with the law of the kingdom 
— the complete, true, supreme, eternal law — 
and with power and authority to cleanse from 
sin and to write this supreme law of God — the 
law of love — in the heart. And he said, "Till 
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle 
shall in no wise pass from the law till all be 
fulfilled." This does not suggest that even 
when heaven and earth are passed away the 
basic principles upon which the law is founded 



and the Sabbath. 169 

will also pass away. Note Luke's words: "It 
is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one 
tittle of the law to fail." Here we get the 
complete idea. The law of Moses written in 
jots and tittles was based on a higher law. 
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these 
least commandments, and shall teach men so, 
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of 
heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach 
them, the same shall be called great in the king- 
dom of heaven." Matt. 5:19. 
The supreme What commands are here al- 
ZZJS? luded to? Evidently, the 

in Christ. commands of the Mosaic law. 

Why was Christ so careful that not one jot or 
tittle should pass from the law until all had 
been made full and the prophecies completed? 
And why would he say that those who disre- 
garded that law should be called least — un- 
worthy of notice — in the kingdom of heaven? 
Manifestly because the Mosaic law served a 
specific purpose. It pointed to the Messiah. 
It was the schoolmaster to bring the world to 
Christ. Moreover, the Mosaic law was an ex- 



170 Divine Law 

pression of God's eternal law to man for the 
time then present ; therefore to break the law of 
Moses was in fact to break God's higher law 
that Christ had come to exalt. 

From the time that man broke the law of 
God in Eden until the advent of Christ the 
world had no perfect expression of supreme 
love to God and equal love to man. The tra- 
ditional or ante-Mosaic law of ceremonial 
service was superseded by the Mosaic law, 
and this law, in turn, was superceded by that 
perfect expression of God's law to man mani- 
fested in the life and the doctrine of Jesus 
Christ. 

In the pre-Mosaic period there was no codi- 
fied form of the law. There was only tradi- 
tion. The Mosaic code gave to Israel more 
detailed instructions concerning the will of God 
and thus superceded the traditional law. Paul 
said of the Sinaitic law, "It is holy, just, and 
good." Since the Mosaic law was a codified 
expression of God's eternal law that was to fill 
a special mission, it could not consistently be 
done away until it had fulfilled its every pur- 



and the Sabbath. 171 

pose. Every jot and tittle of the old covenant 
had to be fulfilled in and by Christ. But not 
only did he come to make full or complete ev- 
ery minute detail of the law concerning him- 
self, but he came, as he had written of him, to 
magnify the law and make it honorable. The 
prophet Isaiah spoke concerning Christ: "Be- 
hold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, 
in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my 
spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment 
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, 
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the 
smoking flax shall he not quench : he shall bring 
forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail 
nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment 
in the earth." "The Lord is well pleased for 
his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the 
law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42 : 1 -4, 2 1 . 
The Law J n what way would Christ 

Magnified and . _ 

Made Honorable, make the law honorable? By 
fulfilling in his life all that it had promised and 
by meeting all the requirements of its sacri- 
ficial and ceremonial types with his own vicari- 



172 Divine Law 

ous atonement. By allowing the old covenant 
to pass to its repose without one jot or tittle 
of its predictions or foreshadowings having 
been broken or unfulfilled. 

But while the Mosaic code, after being ful- 
filled in Christ, was to pass away, the eternal 
law — supreme love to God and equal love to 
man — upon which hung "the law and the 
prophets," the golden rule — "whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even 
so to them" — which Christ says is "the law and 
the prophets," was not to pass away, but to 
continue magnified and made honorable for- 
ever through the doctrine and the life of Christ. 

The law of Moses was a national arrange- 
ment between God and the descendants of 
Abraham. The law covenant was to continue 
until the fulfilment of God's promise through 
Christ, a promise which was committed to Abra- 
ham (Gal. 3: 17-19). Thus that covenant 
law which came through Moses to Israel at 
Sinai was added to, and became only a tem- 
porary part of, God's plan for fulfilling the 
promises in Christ. Christ came to fulfil the 



and the Sabbath. 1 73 

the law, the Mosaic law, and in so doing he 
made it honorable. He came also to exalt 
the eternal law upon which the old covenant 
was founded and to give man a more perfect 
expression — in fact, the perfect expression of 
God's supreme and eternal law. 
Christ^ life What is the law of the king- 

Magrnified the 

supreme law. dom of Christ? Evidently 
that law which had existed from the beginning 
and in obedience to which Abraham was justi- 
fied while yet in uncircumcision (see Rom. 4: 
9-18). "The law of the Spirit of life" which 
Paul speaks of in Rom. 8 : 2 has always ex- 
isted. It was this law, this creative power, 
that inheres in God and that made it possible 
for him to give Adam life in the day when 
he was created. The law which defined sin 
and its consequences — death — has also existed 
since the creation of intelligent beings; for 
without it there could not be punishment for 
evil. Surely no one will arise who will claim 
that Paul, in speaking here of "the law of sin 
and death," refers exclusively to the Mosaic 
law. Although "the law of the Spirit of life" 



174 Divine Law 

and "the law of sin and death" were not fully 
understood before the light of the gospel dis- 
pensation, nevertheless to the extent to which 
they were revealed God expected and de- 
manded obedience. "Walk thou before me 
and be thou perfect," said the Lord to Abra- 
ham (Gen. 17: 1 ), and that kind of life (per- 
fection) is no more than was expected of all 
who served God in the old dispensation. This 
the Scriptures most clearly prove. It was be- 
cause of this fact that the Lord uttered the 
stirring rebuke, "Ye have neglected the 
weightier matters of the law," against the 
scribes and Pharisees, who, though teachers of 
the law, failed to maintain its standard of right- 
eousness. These "weightier matters" of the 
of the law — judgment, mercy, and faith — 
Christ taught and practised. But not only so; 
he raised the standard higher and made it in- 
clude all the righteousness of God's supreme 
law. Moreover he fulfilled every type of the 
old covenant, so that while his doctrine was in- 
clusive of a standard of righteousness higher 
than the standard of righteousness of Moses' 



and the Sabbath. 1 75 

law, his mission also agreed with every proph- 
ecy concerning himself. All this is what is 
comprehended in Matt. 5: 18 — "one jot and 
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all 
be fulfilled." Christ was the antitype and 
thus became the end of the typical law — ful- 
filled it. He also taught those principles com- 
prehended in the divine law, which principles 
had only in part been known to Israel in their 
covenant. Thus those basic principles were 
magnified and made honorable a thousand fold 
through the life and ministry of Christ, 
shadow of The facts are that those things 

Tiling's Passes . . 

away. contained in the types of the 

old dispensation met their antitype in Christ. 
There was no need to change them, since 
of themselves they ceased to be, because of 
meeting the substance they predicted. Paul 
says that "the law was a shadow of things 
to come" (Col. 2: 17), and again, "Now that 
which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to 
vanish away" (Heb. 8: 13). It was highly 
important, however, that especial attention be 
directed to the weightier matters of the law, 



176 Divine Law 

which were being magnified and fulfilled in the 
example of righteousness manifested by the 
life of Christ, and to direct the thoughts of his 
hearers to this standard of truth- — the supreme 
law — which is the standard for the gospel dis- 
pensation. 

The primary cause for the abrupt depar- 
ture from the leading thought of Matt. 5:1- 
16 — Christ's teachings on the supreme law — 
the law of love — to an explanation of his mis- 
sion in verses 1 7-2 1 was, as we have before 
stated, that the Savior's words were not in har- 
mony with the teachings of the scribes and 
Pharisees. It is not at all unlikely that a com- 
plaint from them, saying that he was preach- 
ing a doctrine subversive of the law, had 
reached his ears. Therefore the Lord said: 
* 'Think not I am come to destroy the law and 
the prophets. I came not to destroy, but to 
fulfil ; for I say unto you that except your right- 
eousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 
scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter 
into the kingdom of heaven." The Sermon on 
the Mount, then, together with "all that Jesus 



and the Sabbath. 177 

began to do and to teach," is to be regarded 
both as a fulfilment of the law and the proph- 
ets and as instruction concerning the high prin- 
ciples of God's eternal and supreme law. 
The Prophet of With the coming of Christ 

Whom Moses 1 1 • 

spoke. there was ushered in a new 

condition of things. Peter in the wonderful 
sermon delivered in the temple at the time when 
the lame man was healed quoted Deut. 18: 18, 
19 and announced that Jesus was the prophet 
of whom Moses spoke. Stephen also in his 
address used the same quotation. After briefly 
reciting the experiences of Israel from the time 
of their bondage in Egypt to the time of Christ, 
he said concerning Moses, "This Moses whom 
they [Israel] refused, saying, Who made thee 
a ruler and a judge? the same did God send 
to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of 
the angel which appeared to him in the bush." 
This Moses, who delivered the children of Is- 
rael from their Egyptian bondage, spoke of 
Christ, saying, "A prophet shall the Lord your 
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like 
unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he [Christ] 



1 78 Divine Laxo 

that was in the church in the wilderness with 
the angel which spake to him [Moses] in the 
mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who re- 
ceived the lively oracles to give unto us: to 
whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust 
him from them, and in their hearts turned back 
again into Egypt." Peter further says concern- 
ing this prophet (Christ), "And it shall come 
to pass that every soul which will not hear that 
prophet, shall be destroyed from among the 
people." (See Deut. 18: 15-18; Acts 3: 22- 
26; 7:35-39.) 

The Gospel That Christ should come was 

is simple. a jj j n harmony w i t h t h e eter . 

nal purpose of God, but Israel did not under- 
stand his mission. Their minds were dark- 
ened; there was a veil upon their hearts. Not 
that it needed so to be, but because they fol- 
lowed not after the law of righteousness. 
Neither is there need today that men stumble 
over plain gospel truths. The whole plan and 
purpose of God is simple enough when the de- 
ceptive work of men's doctrines is taken away. 
AH that is necessary in order to understand 



and the Sabbath. 179 

God's blessed gospel work in all ages is that we 
be willing to let God have his own way in our 
hearts and lives. 

Not G ° Spel ^ e S° s P e l °* J esus Christ is 

Afterthought. not simply a remedy for the 
fall of man. It is this, but it is more. It is not 
a make-shift, afterthought scheme brought into 
existence during the present dispensation be- 
cause some previous designs had failed. No; 
such a thing as failure in any of God's plans 
could not be. Had man never sinned, the good 
work of the kingdom would have moved right 
on, and in due time this world, which is only 
temporal, would have been changed for the 
new heaven and new earth which we shall eter- 
nally enjoy. 

God, as we have seen, is an intelligent be- 
ing, possessed of social and governing facul- 
ties. This is attested by the fact that man was 
made in God's own image and likeness. Holy, 
intelligent, and volitional himself, God made 
man with corresponding characteristics. Man 
being thus created, provision to meet the con- 
tingency, should he choose the way of evil must 



180 Divine Law 

be made in order that the eternal purpose of 
God should be fulfilled. Therefore God had 
already arranged the gospel plan of salvation 
before the foundation of the world. This is 
seen when we understand what his eternal pur- 
pose is. 

Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, says that 
"God created all things by Jesus Christ: to 
the intent that now unto the principalities and 
powers in heavenly places might be made 
known by [or through, A. R. V.] the church, 
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the 
eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ" 
Eph. 3:9-11. How plainly all this is stated! 
Even the glorious church of God was not a 
thing which was purposed or came into ex- 
istence since sin entered the world. God pur- 
posed everything in Christ. He did it all 
through Christ, that principalities and powers 
might know through the church the manifold 
wisdom of God. The eternal purpose which 
was to be made known in the wisdom of God 
through his eternal covenant is stated in chap. 
1:9, 10: "Having made known unto us the 



and the Sabbath. 181 

mystery of his will, according to his good pleas- 
ure which he hath purposed in himself: that in 
the dispensation of the fulness of times he might 
gather together in one all things in Christ, both 
which are in heaven and which are on earth; 
even in him." After sin had entered, God's 
purpose was still made sure by the redemption 
of a lost world through the blood of Christ. 
This great scheme of human redemption, then, 
was provided for in God's eternal purpose, so 
that nothing could occur to interfere perma- 
nently, and all was made known in his eternal 
covenant — t hat covenant which sounded 
through the ages from the time it was first made 
known in Eden (Gen. 3: 15). 
God's Eternal The apostle says, "Now the 

Covenant in 

cnrist. God of peace that brought 

again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great 
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant, make you perfect in ev- 
ery good work to do his will." Heb. 13: 20, 
2 1 . Every child of Adam that is saved in the 
kingdom of God was chosen in God's eternal 
covenant before the foundation of the world 



182 Divine Law 

(Eph. 1:4). This eternal covenant was made 
known to our first parents in the words, "The 
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's 
head." Gen. 3:15. This eternal covenant, 
which was confirmed to Abraham (Gen. 22: 
15-18) and all the heirs of promise by two 
immutable things — God's oath and promise — 
was fixed in the blood of Christ by the coun- 
sel between the Father and his Son (Zech. 
6: 12, 13). So when Christ, on the night of 
his betrayal, gave to the twelve apostles the 
cup containing the emblematic blood, he con- 
firmed his pledge to the church, that he would 
give his life to ransom a lost world. This act 
on the part of Christ was a symbol of the rati- 
fication, by his blood, of the new covenant, 
which God had promised by the mouth of his 
prophets (Jer. 31 : 31-34 and Isa. 42: 6; 49: 
8). Though this covenant was new to the 
house of Israel and Judah, and not understood 
by the church till after the death of Christ (see 
Eph. 3 : 1 0, 1 1 ), yet it was no other than God's 
eternal covenant established through the blood 
of Christ far back in the annals of eternity. 



and the Sabbath. 183 

God's Purpose When Adam sinned, the Son 

Ever tHe Sam* Q f Q Q J toQ J c man * $ p J ace an J 

suffered the penalty — death. Hence it could 
be truthfully said that in God's eternal purpose 
Christ was a Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world (Rev. 13:8). Thus by 
understanding what the eternal purpose of 
God in Christ has ever been — the establish- 
ment of his glory through the church — we are 
better able to appreciate the beautiful text 
in Mai. 3:6: "I am the Lord; I change not." 
From eternity past to all eternity future, God's 
purpose for man has been and will always be 
the same. His work was finished from the 
foundation of the world. As we have before 
suggested, even the plan of salvation was not an 
afterthought. Not one single new device has 
entered into the mind of God for man since the 
foundation of the world. 

When upon the sixth day of creation man 
was made from the dust of the earth, given the 
divine nature, and placed in the beautiful gar- 
den that was planted for his home, we read 
that on the seventh day God rested from all 



184 Divine Law 

the work that he had created and made, This 
was not a rest because of weariness and fatigue, 
for such a thing could not be. The rest — ces- 
sation from his work — simply marked the com- 
pletion of those temporal things which formed 
a part of God's great purpose for man. It was 
man's privilege to abide in that rest, enter into 
God's purpose for him, and enjoy all that the 
Creator had provided for man's blessing and 
comfort. 

During the past thousands of years of sin many 
changes seemingly appear in the plans and pur- 
poses of God. Some who are unwise or un- 
learned have even suggested various plans of sal- 
vation because of the failure that they have at- 
tributed to the work of God in various ages, 
but from the beginning no failure has ever at- 
tended God's work. Faith in God through 
Christ and a life in harmony with the great 
scheme of redemption has been the terms of 
salvation in both dispensations. 
God's Rest There is no doubt that the rest 

Beginning. spoken of by Paul in Heb. 

4 : 4 includes this. The apostle calls the at- 



and the Sabbath. 185 

tention of the Hebrew brethren to the fact that 
the Levitical priests, ceremonies, and sacrifices 
were typical only and pointed forward to the 
coming and the work of the great High Priest 
(Christ). This Christ whom the Jews had 
crucified had now fulfilled all things signified 
by their services. To him Paul is pointing the 
Hebrews — to him who, according to the eter- 
nal purpose of God from the foundation of the 
world, had now met the fulfilment of all the 
promises made to the human family, that they 
would be redeemed through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant. The apostle is showing 
these brethren that the rest which they received 
through Joshua, their leader into Canaan's 
land, was not a fulfilment of that promise ; that 
the work of God which was finished back in 
the annals of eternity was made sure by the 
blood of Christ. He purposes to show to the 
brethren that, when creation's week closed, 
nothing more pertaining to man in the plan or 
purpose of God was later to be thought of or 
devised. Therefore with everything before 
him, with man the master-piece of his creation 



186 Divine Latv 

holding dominion over the beautiful new world, 
he looked upon all things and said, "It is very 
good," and rested from all that he had created 
and made. 

But Israel, as a nation, not recognizing their 
privileges in the promises concerning Christ, 
which were provided for from the beginning, 
did not receive the benefit of the rest which in 
due time was to be revealed. "Therefore he 
[God] sware in his wrath that they should not 
enter into his rest, although the works were fin- 
ished from the foundation of the world. Let 
us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us 
of entering into his rest [the eternal purpose of 
God in Christ] any of you should seem to come 
short of it." Thus it is clear that Christian 
perfection — holiness — perfect love — entire 
sanctification — was God's purpose from the be- 
ginning. This is God's rest. This is a privi- 
lege that the Christian now enjoys. The bene- 
fits of the promise concerning it Israel did not 
enter. Woe to the soul who, like Israel of old, 
misses his present opportunity of entering in; 
for the supreme joy of the rest that may be ob- 



and the Sabbath. 187 

tained through the indwelling Spirit of God is 
but the earnest — assurance — of the rest that 
the pure in heart shall receive and enjoy to 
all eternity. (See 2 Cor. 5: 4, 5; Eph. 1:14.) 
It may be thus clearly seen that the rest 
spoken of in Heb. 4 : 4, into which God en- 
tered upon the seventh day, was not rest from 
labor, a rest to be repeated on the closing day 
of each recurring weekly cycle, but that it signi- 
fied the completion of his purpose and plans 
concerning man for all time, 
sab^ath-day TTie professed Christian world 

Keeping" out of 

Harmony has long supposed that the 

fourth commandment is part 
of the supreme law, which is coexistent with 
God, and that God himself observes the sab- 
bath-day with all created intelligences — angels 
and men — that in truth obey him ; but we shall 
proceed to show that the Spirit of God could 
not be manifested in thus making one day more 
holy than others. If our evidence is in har- 
mony with the spirit of truth, it will also be 
against the theory that Gen. 2 : 2, 3 and Heb. 
4 : 4 teach the seventh-day sabbath observance, 



1 88 Divine Law 

and the doctrine that before the exodus of 
Israel, or after the resurrection of Christ, re- 
quired sabbath observance on any day in par- 
ticular. 

To make one day more holy than others 
would divide work that men may do into two 
classes. Certain work of a less holy character 
could be done on certain days, and not upon 
others. Moreover, if certain times are made 
more holy than others, the persons who wor- 
ship on such days as are supposed to be more 
holy must correspondingly become more holy 
upon such days in order that their worship may 
be fully acceptable with God; for it would be 
inconsistent to teach that worship would be 
wholly acceptable from one who did not meas- 
ure to the standard of a holy God on a day 
made divinely holy. But this is not all; the 
view admits of absolute changes from a con- 
dition of holiness on certain days to a less holy 
state on other days. Not only so; that state 
of holiness must be laid aside with the passing 
of the day which is more holy than the rest, 
since it is evident that one can not be more holy 



and the Sabbath. 189 

than the work which occupies his time. Nor 
is this all ; if it holds true that certain days are 
more holy than others, then God's state of holi- 
ness, too, must change — a change which, in 
fact, can not be. And if God can not make 
such up-and-down changes in holiness, neither 
can those who are made partakers of the divine 
nature. 

Man may grow in holiness; he may attain 
to a greater degree of knowledge in the things 
of God; but, having reached a certain point, 
he could not each week stoop to engage for six 
days in labor that is less holy than that which 
he may do on the seventh. The very idea of 
stepping to a lower plane of Christian living on 
six days of the week and then on the remaining 
day being holy even as God is holy (1 Pet. 
1 : 15, 16; 1 John 3: 7), is repugnant to any 
unbiased mind. No, the fact is that in the be- 
ginning God did not separate a day and make 
it more holy than others. When the law was 
given at Sinai, a sabbath or holy day was, as 
we have before shown, set apart because of 
sin. That day was a part of the law of cere- 



190 Divine Law 

monial and typical service and that day as a 
sabbath with the whole system, was to be done 
away in Christ. It was a memorial of Israel's 
deliverance from bondage, and was given to 
continue only while the schoolmaster law was 
in force. Now, since Christ has come, those 
figures have met their fulfilment; the memorial 
is no more ; and we enter into better things. The 
eternal purpose of God is now made known to 
the church, so that every soul who is born again 
may rejoice in the wisdom of God. 



and the Sabbath. 191 

CHAPTER XIV. 

New Testament Instruction. 

For reasons best known to himself God chose 
to defer the manifestation of Christ in the 
flesh until after many centuries of this world's 
history had elapsed. During this time, as we 
have shown, the promise of God remained the 
same, and all through the ages it was repeated 
and renewed to those who believed God. Those 
who embraced the promises realized that with 
the coming of Christ, who was the fulfilment 
of all their hopes, there would be ushered in 
a time of spiritual refreshing previously un- 
known (see 1 Pet. 1: 10-12). 
The sabbatu During these ages of the past 
Movement. there were times when, as his- 

tory clearly shows, the goodness of God and 
the promise of the Redeemer were almost lost 
sight of. The world followed the ways of sin, 
and even Israel, the people to whom God had 
committed his oracles, began practises which 
led them, again and again, deep into idola- 



192 Divine Law 

trous worship. As we have before shown, a 
certain day became venerated as a holy day 
kept in honor of the sun, which was regarded 
as the manifestation of the Creator. Every- 
thing in the religion of the heathen world rested 
on a basis of superstition, and their idea was 
that God is revengeful. This is just the con- 
trary of what his nature has always been. The 
words of the Savior were truly fulfilled which 
say, "Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruc- 
tion, and many there be which go in thereat." 
Matt. 7: 13.' 

When the children of Israel were in deep 
darkness concerning God, he visited them in 
Egypt, and instituted certain ceremonial serv- 
ices and the observance of certain days with the 
evident intent of leading the people away from 
customs of idol-worship to the ways of the true 
God. This worship that the Lord instituted 
was calculated to reveal to the Hebrews, as far 
as possible through external forms, the nature 
and character of a holy God, until the time 
when Christ should be revealed. This cere- 
monial law provided for priests that were holy. 



and the Sabbath. 193 

They wore garments that were holy. They ob- 
served days that were holy. All these things, 
which were termed holy, were, however, not so 
in themselves; but, as is revealed in the law, 
they were to be regarded sacred because of the 
things that they represented. God placed his 
approval upon them and called them holy be- 
cause they were dedicated to a sacred use. 

The priesthood and the services were regu- 
lated by law, but the law made nothing per- 
fect. Paul says, "If perfection were by the 
Levitical priesthood, [for under it the people 
received the law], what further need was there 
that another priest should rise after the order 
of Melchisedec, and not be called after the 
order of Aaron?" Heb. 7: 11. After pre- 
senting the argument (Heb. 6: 20) that Jesus 
had been made a priest after the order of Mel- 
chisedec, he states, "For the priesthood being 
changed, there is made of necessity a change 
also of the law." Thus there is a change in 
the law regulating service to God. This change 
was that to which the prophets had looked for- 
ward when they prophesied of the grace that 



194 Divine Law 

should come upon those who lived to see the 
fulfilment of the promise. 
The change On the day of Pentecost the 

from Days to i } r 1 . f . 

the Beai l° n g deterred promise ot the 

substance. p ather was f u lfiH e d in its eter- 

nal completeness so far as this temporal life is 
concerned. Christ had suffered for sin ; he had 
been raised from the dead. Prior to his cru- 
cifixion he had for three and one-half years 
preached the principles of the kingdom of God, 
had preached the gospel of the kingdom. He 
had contrasted the ritualistic service and the 
legal customs of the Jewish nation with the 
principles of the high and supreme law of God 
(see Matthew 5 to 7). Subsequently to his 
resurrection he met with his chosen disciples and 
instructed them concerning the things which had 
occurred. "Then understood they the Scrip- 
tures." "He breathed on them, and saith unto 
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 

When he was about to ascend into heaven, 
he led his disciples to the brow of Mount Olivet 
and there, before departing from them, told 
them to tarry at Jerusalem and wait for the 



and the Sabbath. 195 

promise of the Father, of which promise he 
had told them before. He assured them that 
upon receiving the promise they would receive 
power to be witnesses of God and his kingdom 
of grace to earth's remotest bounds (Acts 1 : 
7, 8). Believing this promise, they assembled 
in Jerusalem; "and when the day of Pente- 
cost was fully come, they were all with one 
accord in one place. And suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven as of a rushing 
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where 
they were sitting. And there appeared unto 
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat 
upon each of them. And they were all filled 
with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with 
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter- 
ance" (Acts 2: 1-4). 

Turning to the history of the days which 
immediately followed Pentecost, we read from 
the Encyclopedia Brittanica: "The sanctity of 
special times or places was an idea quite alien 
to the early Christian mind. They were too 
profoundly occupied in the events themselves 
to think of their external accidence." Chrysos- 



196 Divine Laxo 

torn, one of the Greek church fathers born at 
Antioch in the fourth century, says, "The 
whole time was a festival to Christians because 
of the excellency of the good things which had 
been given." 
some Held to But the human mind is not 
ow customs. susceptible t o immediate 
changes, and is often unwilling to abandon 
fixed religious habits. Customs that have long 
been regarded as sacred cling with the memory 
of the past. Since the truth of God must be 
intelligently embraced, there must be a gospel 
education away from practises that are out of 
harmony with true worship, and there must be 
also a willingness to walk in the light of truth. 
The preaching of the gospel was not to be 
confined within limited territory. "Ye shall 
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and 
in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the 
uttermost part of the earth," said the Savior. 
For men filled with the Spirit of God to carry 
"this gospel of the kingdom" into all the earth 
meant that they would be called upon to preach 
the truth in the presence of those who were 



and the Sabbath. 197 

practising false religions and holding unscrip- 
tural theories of every kind. 

Sunday, as we have already shown, was 
regarded as a venerable day of great festivity 
among the idolatrous heathen, while Saturday 
had been kept as a weekly sabbath for more 
than fifteen hundred years by the people in 
Samaria and Judea. The results from the 
preaching of the gospel among these two 
classes of people were that those who had for- 
merly regarded Sunday as a heathen festal day 
now observed it as a day of Christian worship, 
while those Jews who accepted Christ still re- 
garded it important to observe some of their 
ceremonial customs and venerated holy days. 
Therefore it became necessary for Paul, who 
was a minister to the Gentiles, to give positive 
instruction regarding the observance of times. 

instruction to A church had been raised up 

the Church 

at Bome. at Rome under the ministry 

of those who had gone thither. Paul wrote a 
letter to the church at this place because of 
differences that had arisen regarding the ob- 
servance of certain days and the eating of cer- 



198 Divine Law 

tain foods. Among the heathen there was a 
practise of eating the flesh of a sacrifice that 
had been offered according to the customs of 
idolatry. Some of the brethren were troubled 
over some matters of conscience. Paul there- 
fore instructs, "Him that is weak in the faith 
receive ye, but not to judge his doubtful 
thoughts." Rom. 14: 1, margin. You will 
note the brother is "weak in the faith"; that is, 
he is not fully acquainted with all the doctrines 
of truth. However, he has heard sufficient of 
the truth to become converted to Christ. This 
brother that is weak in the faith must be re- 
ceived in fellowship by the saints. Paul says, 
"One believeth that he may eat all things; an- 
other, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him 
that eateth despise him that eateth not; and 
let not him which eateth not judge him that 
eateth; for God hath received him. Who art 
thou that judgest another man's servant? to his 
own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he 
shall be holden up: for God is able to make 
him stand." Thus Paul sets aside the ques- 
tion of eating and drinking. He does not here 



and the Sabbath. 199 

give license to eat everything, but rather teaches 
that those things which a man eats with a good 
conscience, he no longer eats in honor of his 
former god, for he is now converted to the true 
God. 
Doctrine Paul then turns to the doc- 

Begrardingr Days. trine concern ing days. There 

is unmistakable evidence throughout the epistle 
to the Romans, as well as in other New Testa- 
ment scriptures, that there were dwelling in 
Rome both Jewish and Gentile converts. It is 
natural to suppose that the Gentile convert 
would cling to Sunday and the converted Jew 
to his sabbath observance. Therefore Paul 
says, "One man esteemeth one day above an- 
other: another esteemeth every day alike. Let 
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 
He that regardeth [observeth, margin] the 
day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that 
regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not 
regard it." Rom. 14: 5, 6. 

If there ever was a time when Paul had an 
opportunity to clear himself on the sabbath 
question and point others to the truth on this 



200 Divine Law 

matter, it was then ; but Paul left it with every 
man's conscience, trusting to the Holy Spirit so 
to fill the souls of the believers with rejoicing 
love that all "external accidence" (as Chrysos- 
torn says) to cause the observance of holy days 
would be forgotten. 

Writing at another time to the Gentiles, Paul 
again shows conclusively that the observance of 
days is not carried over into the gospel dis- 
pensation. "Let no man therefore,'* says he, 
"judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect 
of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the 
sabbath-days." Col. 2:16. Evidently, there 
was being brought to bear upon the church at 
Colosse some influence urging them to observe 
some day as holy. Whether this influence came 
from the Gentiles or from the Jews is a moot 
question among expositors. At this time there had 
already arisen in the young church a spirit in 
favor of regarding Sunday as venerable be- 
cause of the resurrection of Christ. You will 
note that Paul says, "Let no man therefore 
judge you." Paul would have every believer 
in Christ to follow the dictates of the Holy 



and the Sabbath. 201 

Spirit; and through the Holy Spirit, by whom 
he was writing, no instruction is given as to the 
sacredness of any day; neither can there be 
found in the entire New Testament the slight- 
est intimation of even a single command to 
Christians to observe one day above another. 
ah Holy Days It is evident that Paul pur- 

Classed • 1 • n 

Tog-ether. poses m this text to cover all 

sorts of days that had formerly been venerated, 
either by the heathen or by the Jews; for he 
mentions holy days, which were common 
among the Gentiles, and also new moons, which 
were feast-days observed by the Jews in their 
season, and then adds sabbath-days. Cer- 
tainly Paul would not have mentioned new 
moons, which were the ceremonial sabbaths 
observed by the Jews at times throughout the 
year, and sabbath-days, by which he evidently 
meant weekly sabbaths, had he purposed by his 
latter expression "sabbath-days," to cover the 
same days that are referred to in his expression 
"the new moons." Again in this connection 
Paul omitted that all-essential feature in his 
argument, that is, the setting forth clearly that 



202 Divine Law 

sabbath is to be observed, if, indeed, in his 
mind, the observance of the seventh day was 
still a binding obligation, 
instruction to At another time, writing to a 

the Church 

at oaiatia. different Gentile church, the 

Galatian brethren, Paul discusses the question 
of the law as related to the gospel. This time 
we are not at all left in question as to what 
day he refers to ; for we read that it was Peter 
who had stirred up the difficulty (see Gala- 
tians 2). The trouble that had arisen at An- 
tioch over Jewish customs had so agitated the 
minds of the brethren in Galatia that Paul 
wrote definitely concerning the experience. No- 
tice his words in chapter 4 regarding the ob- 
servance of days. In his endeavor to make the 
matter plain, he mentions, by way of compari- 
son, the legal relationship of an heir to an in- 
heritance, thus: "Now I say, That the heir, 
as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from 
a servant, though he be lord of all; but is 
under tutors and governors until the time ap- 
pointed of the father. Even so we, when we 
were children, were in bondage under the ele- 



and the Sabbath. 203 

ments of the world: but when the fulness of 
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, 
made of a woman, made under the law, to re- 
deem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons." 

The point is this: The Jews were under the 
binding obligations of the law until Christ be- 
came the fulfilment of every typical service; 
after that they were free from the requirements 
of the typical service. Hence Paul would have 
the churches of Galatia to understand clearly 
that no Hebrew could, by divine right, impose 
upon them requirements prescribed under the 
Mosaic law, and that should any one endeavor 
to do so, they were not to receive the doctrine. 

sacred Begrard But the churches in Galatia 

for Days 

Pernicious. had barkened to some of these 

teachers, as is clearly shown in the following 
(verse 9) : "But now, after that ye have known 
God, or rather are known of God, how turn 
ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, 
whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" 
You will notice that they had even so lived as 
to express by their conduct a desire to observe 



204 Divine Law 

those things that had been taught from the old 
Mosaic law. Paul denounced the doctrine that 
they had begun to practise. "Ye observe days, 
and months, and times, and years," said he: "I 
am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon 
you labor in vain." We call particular atten- 
tion to the fact that Paul did not say they must 
desist from the observance of those things. He 
did not lord it over God's heritage, but he did 
warn them of the pernicious influence that at- 
tends the observance of holy days as religious 
institutions. They had begun to regard the 
keeping of days as a religious duty. This 
caused Paul to fear that they might lose sight 
of the true body of Christ. 

In each of these three instances Paul has 
given instructions regarding the observance of 
days: first to the church at Rome, then to 
the churches of Colosse and Laodicea, and later 
to all the churches in Galatia. In no instance 
has he so much as vaguely intimated that under 
the New Testament dispensation God ordains 
the observance of a sabbath-day. It is per- 
fectly evident, therefore, that the custom of 



and the Sabbath. 205 

keeping days with sacred reverence has its ori- 
gin outside the commands of God as given for 
the new covenant dispensation. This being 
true, days are not made sacred at all; and, as 
we have before shown, one day can not be 
made more holy than other days without doing 
violence to the blessing of holiness itself. May 
God therefore help all of his dear children to 
keep themselves free from the commandments 
of men. 



Divine Law and the Sabbath. 207 

CHAPTER XV. 

Sunday Venerated. 

Almost immediately after the events that 
marked the turning-point from the old to the 
new dispensation, the first day of the week be- 
gan to be observed as a day for religious gath- 
erings, but it was not until some centuries later 
that the day came to be considered sacred. The 
Encyclopedia Brittanica (Article Sunday) 
says: 
Eany Historical "Whether the primitive church 
pacts " in Jerusalem had any special 

mode of observing it [Sunday] in its daily 
meetings held in the temple, we can not tell, 
but there is no doubt that in these gatherings 
the recurrence of the sabbath was marked by 
appropriate Jewish observance. So it is not 
improbable that the worship of the first day of 
the week had also some distinguishing feature. 
Afterward, when Christianity had been car- 
ried to other places, when from the nature of 
the case, daily meetings for worship were im- 



208 Divine Law 

possible, the first day of the week was every- 
where set apart for this purpose. It (Sunday) 
is almost invariably referred to as 'the Lord's 
day' by all writers of the century immediately 
succeeding the apostolic times. The first 
writer who mentions the name 'Sunday* as ap- 
plicable to the Lord's day is Justin Martyr. 
This designation of the first day of the week, 
which is of heathen origin, had come into gen- 
eral use in the Roman world shortly before 
Justin Martyr wrote. He describes how on 
the day called Sunday the town and country 
Christians alike gathered together in one place 
for instruction and prayer and charitable offer- 
ings." 

It is also interesting to note in this connection 
the following from the same authority: "As 
long as the Jewish Christian element continued 
to have any prominence or influence in the 
church, a tendency more or less strong to ob- 
serve sabbath (Saturday) as well as Sun- 
day would of course persist." Eusebius men- 
tions that the Ebionites continued to keep both 
days, and there is abundant evidence from Ter- 



and the Sabbath. 209 

tullian onward that, so far as public worship 
and abstinence from feasting are concerned, the 
practise was widely spread among the Gentile 
Christians. From Socrates, a church historian 
of the early part of the fifth century, we learn 
that in his time public worship was held in 
the churches of Constantinople on both days. 
The Apostolic Canons (can. 66 [65] ) sternly 
prohibit feasting on Sunday or Saturday, ex- 
cept on holy Saturday. And the instruction 
of the Apostolic Constitution is "to hold your 
solemn assemblies and rejoice every sabbath 
[Saturday], except one, and every Lord's 
day." 
Both Saturday From this it is evident that as 

and Sunday 

observed. late as the early part of the 

fifth century both days were still observed for 
religious gatherings, though, as we shall find 
later, civil law did not make the observance of 
either day compulsory until long after the open- 
ing of the Christian era. Regarding the ob- 
servance of both days we quote from the Brit- 
tanica: "In the primitive church the social con- 
ditions were such as hardly to admit of the 



210 Divine Law 

question being raised, in Gentile circles at any 
rate, as to the manner in which either the Lord's 
day or the sabbath ought further to be kept 
after the duty of congregational worship had 
been discharged; but the whole matter was 
placed on an entirely new footing when civil 
power, by the constitution of Constantine [men- 
tioned later] began to legislate as to Sunday 
rest." 

We have made quotations at some length 
that our readers may have, in the compass of 
this brief treatise on the law of God, authentic 
evidence that from the early days of the Chris- 
tian era the first day of the week has also 
been known as the Lord's day. This fact em- 
phasizes the need of being careful to avoid con- 
fusion, since we frequently hear it strongly ad- 
vocated that no day but Saturday (sabbath) 
is the Lord's day. Common usage of the ex- 
pression "the Lord's day" applied to Sunday, 
the first day of the week, is no doubt the rea- 
son for its use by John in Rev. 1:10. If you 
will take the trouble to examine the history of 
these things, you will find that in all the church 



and the Sabbath. 21 1 

councils where these matters were discussed 
Sunday was referred to as "Lord's day," the 
name by which it was commonly known. 

But Sunday is not a sacred day. Its ob- 
servance is not commanded in the New Testa- 
ment. Though its observance is enjoined by no 
authority higher than civil laws, yet the day 
has been so venerated as to impose upon the 
consciences of many the belief that God has 
ordained the sacred observance of this one day 
in the week above others. We have before 
shown (p. 188 and elsewhere) that one day 
can not be made more holy than others, and that 
holiness has to do with intelligent creatures, 
and not with times ; but for the help of any who 
do not understand how Sunday observance be- 
came so popular, we shall briefly notice a little 
of the history regarding the process that brought 
Sunday into such prominence among Chris- 
tians. 

Jewish customs After the descent of the Holy 

Hated by o • • i 

Gentiles. Spirit much power was mani- 

fested in the early church, which consisted prin- 
cipally of Jews. By persecution these Christians 



212 Divine Law 

and apostles were driven from their own land. 
Thus the gospel spread to the Gentile nations, 
and churches rapidly sprang up. The fact that 
the Jews as a nation had rejected the gospel be- 
came known. They were already a hated peo- 
ple, because of their intolerant bigotry, and as 
the gospel did not include Jewish customs, there 
was a disposition on the part of the Gentiles 
to favor the truth and to show more hatred for 
the Jews than ever. In the severe persecutions 
that arose, more favor came to be shown to a 
Gentile believer in the gospel than to a Jewish 
believer in the same faith. The purity of the 
early church gradually declined, and instead 
of the Gentile Christians maintaining the sim- 
plicity of the gospel and abiding by apostolic 
example, they introduced heathen customs into 
the church as necessary religious rites. 
Paul warns Thi s tendency to depart from 

Agrainst the . . . 

Man of sin. the purity or the gospel the 

apostle Paul recognized and denounced. He 
warned the Ephesian elders as follows: "I 
have not shunned to declare unto you all the 
counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto 



and the Sabbath. 213 

yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which 
the Hoh) Ghost hath made you overseers, to 
feed the church of God, which he hath pur- 
chased with his own blood. For I know this, 
that after my departing shall grievous wolves 
enter in among you, not sparing the flock." 
Acts 20: 27-31. Thus we see that Paul had 
an insight into the future. He foresaw some- 
thing of the corrupt work of men which would 
arise in the church. When writing his Thes- 
salonian letter, he said: "Let no man beguile you 
in any wise: for it [the coming of Christ] will 
not be except the falling away come first, and 
the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdi- 
tion, he that opposeth and exalteth himself 
against all that is called God or that is wor- 
shiped ; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, 
setting himself forth as God." 2 Thess. 2: 3- 
5, A. R. V. 

Thus it may be seen that the church, which 
started out pure and holy, was about to depart 
from the purity of the gospel, and that men had 
begun to exalt themselves over God's heritage. 
Paul said that this was the working of iniquity 



214 Divine Law 

— lawlessness — and that this thing or power 
which hindered must be taken out of the way 
and the lawless one be revealed, whom the 
Lord would slay and bring to naught by the 
manifestation of His coming, 
paurs warningr The reader will recall what 

to Colosse and 

Laodicea. we have said concerning 

Paul's letter to the churches at Colosse and 
Laodicea (see p. 200 and 201 ) — that there is 
division of opinion among Bible expositors as 
to whether the influence that Paul endeavored 
to combat had arisen from among Gentiles or 
Jews. Let us consider a few of the facts. We 
shall find that it was largely among the Gen- 
tiles that the trouble arose, though Paul also 
mentions that Jewish customs of the law were 
abolished. We may read: "For I would that 
ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and 
for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have 
not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts 
might be comforted, being knit together in love, 
and unto all riches of the full assurance of un- 
derstanding, to the acknowledgment of the 
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of 



and the Sabbath. 2 1 5 

Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of 
wisdom and knowledge." Col. 2: 1-3. 

You will note that Paul understood that 
some other binding influence than love was 
springing up among the believers. They were 
losing their full understanding of the mystery of 
God, and were not acknowledging as they 
should Christ and the Father. Paul affirms 
that in God and Christ are to be found, by 
every individual member of the church, the 
necessary wisdom and knowledge for the direc- 
tion of the body — his church. He then states 
the reason for his warning: "And this I say, 
lest any man should beguile you with enticing 
words." Evidently, this man to whom he re- 
ferred was akin to "the man of sin" and of 
the kind whom he said would arise (Acts 20: 
31), "speaking perverse things to draw away 
disciples after them." He warns them again in 
verse 6 : "As ye have therefore received Christ 
Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." Paul had 
preached salvation by faith; this man would 
preach salvation by works; for Paul says 
(verses 16-19) : "Let no man therefore judge 



216 Divine Law 

you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy 
day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath- 
days: which are a shadow of things to come; 
but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile 
you of your reward in a voluntary humility and 
worshiping of angels, intruding into those things 
which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his 
fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from 
which all the body by joints and bands having 
nourishment ministered, and knit together, in- 
creased with the increase of God." 

In this last quotation there are briefly 
summed up the doctrines of the Roman Catho- 
lic faith. In their doctrine of penance they 
teach salvation, not by faith, but by works. At 
the head of the church they place the Pope 
instead of Christ ; they prescribe customs in eat- 
ing and drinking; they dictate the duty of their 
followers regarding holy days, and teach that 
holiness is a condition to be obtained in the 
future and that the rites of the church are only 
a shadow of future blessing. These very doc- 
trines, in a more or less modified form, may be 
found also in Protestant denominations, which 



and the Sabbath. 217 

are but the natural offspring of the "mother" 
spoken of in Rev. 17:5. 

In this connection it is interesting to note 
from history that at a very early date the 
churches of Colosse and Laodicea were cor- 
rupted. From Schaff's Bible Dictionary we 
learn that semi-Judaistic and semi-Oriental 
opinions were taught in the church and that 
these corrupted the simplicity of faith and no- 
ticeably tended to obscure the eternal glory and 
dignity of Christ. The same authority states 
that, subsequent to the apostolic days, Lao- 
dicea became a Christian (?) city of eminence, 
the see of a bishop, and the meeting-place of 
church councils. 
Babylon Authentic history justifies us 

sunday C€ m believing that from earliest 

sacreaness. New Testament times meet- 

ings were held on the first day of the week; but 
not until spirituality declined and hatred for 
the customs of Jewish believers increased did 
Sunday observance grow in popularity over 
Sabbath observance. There can be no doubt 
that in the Laodicean church councils these 



218 Divine Law 

questions regarding the observance of holy days 
and of various other rites and forms of worship 
were discussed. 

But a few centuries passed before there was 
civil legislation in favor of Sunday observance. 
Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome, a 
heathen who lived in the fourth century, pro- 
fessed conversion to the Christian faith and, for 
the purpose of securing the cooperation of the 
church, which at that time had grown to popu- 
larity, favored those who were calling for leg- 
islation that would effectually set aside all ques- 
tion regarding the right to observe one day 
above another, and made a law enjoining the 
observance of Sunday. While it was per- 
fectly proper and right that meetings should 
be held on Sunday or any other day, it was 
absolutely wrong to enjoin by civil law that 
any certain day be devoted to sacred worship. 
Legislation upon matters of religion is an intru- 
sion by the state into things which do not con- 
cern it, and is always dangerous. The apos- 
tate church, however, cooperated with the 
legislative body in framing laws for the en- 



and the Sabbath. 219 

forcement of the religious observance of Sun- 
day. 

The First This was the first Sunday leg- 

Leffislation. islation. It was made in 314. 

The object of this legislation is given by the 
church historian, Eusebius, in these words: 
"Constantine enjoined the observance of the 
day termed the Lord's day, and commanded 
that no judicial or other business should be 
transacted on this day, but that God should be 
served with prayers and supplication." From 
this we may learn that the object of the first 
Sunday legislation ever made was solely re- 
ligious. Moreover, we may learn that until 
this date there was no law prescribing that ju- 
dicial business should be suspended on that 
day; for had there been, Constantine's law 
would have been unnecessary. From the same 
authority we learn also that the next step in 
Sunday legislation was in 321. Eusebius was 
the eulogist of Constantine, and as it appears 
from the record, one of those who helped to 
put through the legislation. We read: "He 
[Constantine] comanded that one day should 



220 Divine Law 

be regarded as a special occasion for religious 
worship." Eusebius says further: "Who else 
has commanded the nations ... to assemble 
weekly on the Lord's day and to observe it as 
a festival not enjoined for pampering of the 
body, but for the comfort and invigorating of 
the soul by instruction in divine truths." From 
this quotation we may learn that the object of 
the first Sunday legislation ever in the world, 
was religious and only so. 
comments of In addition to what has been 

29th Canon, . i . . r • . . , 

council said, it is or interest to note 

Laoaicea. ^ a t L aoc Jj cea , t h e very 

place to which Paul sent his warning, there 
was held a council in which the Sunday ques- 
tion was discussed and decided upon. William 
Prynne thus quotes and comments upon the 
twenty-ninth canon of the Council of Lao- 
dicea, A. D. 364: "Christians ought not to Ju- 
daize, and to rest in the sabbath, but to work 
in that day [which many at that time refused 
to do]. If they shall be found to Judaize, 
let them be accursed by Christ. The Council 
of Laodicea, A. D. 364, first settled the ob- 



and the Sabbath. 221 

servance of the Lord's day, and prohibited the 
keeping of the Jewish sabbath under an anath- 
ema." — Dissertation on Lord's Day, page 32. 

The foregoing plain statement of facts fur- 
nishes sufficient evidence that "the man of sin" 
of whom Paul warned the churches of Colosse 
and Laodicea continued his imposition until 
spirituality was quite destroyed from among 
them; that the day observed by converts from 
the Gentiles became more popular than the 
sabbath of the Mosaic law; and that clamor 
about days is dangerous to the church of God 
and should be avoided. 

Beginning of From the beginning of relig- 

the Dark . . . ° ° 

Agres. ious legislation upon the Sun- 

day question matters grew worse until the day 
was definitely set apart by the state to be re- 
ligously observed and violation of the law was 
made punishable by death. The church, which 
at the beginning was pure and holy, had now 
fallen to a plane where they adopted civil leg- 
islation to force men to do by law whatever 
the church might dictate. The congregation at 
Rome, which became the chief seat of ecclesi- 



222 Divine Law 

asticism, with a bishop as the head of the fallen 
church, assumed the right to dictate, and out 
of that once pure body of people grew the 
Roman hierarchy — the Papacy. The instruc- 
tion given by Paul through inspiration had been 
ignored, and through civil legislation religious 
laws were enacted. Then followed the dark 
ages of bloody persecution against all who 
refused to recognize the authority of the Pa- 
pacy. 

For twelve hundred and sixty years this 
fallen church ruled the consciences of men. As 
a consequence of the enforcement of this new 
idea, that Sunday is the sabbath, the day be- 
came generally regarded as sacred. Thus we 
understand why Paul, foreseeing the pernicious 
results of venerating any particular day* was 
moved by inspiration to warn the church 
against such veneration. We may better un- 
derstand, too, why he said to the Galatians: 
"Ye observe days, and months, and times, and 
years. I am afraid of you, lest I have be- 
stowed upon you labor in vain." Gal. 4: 
10, 11. 



and the Sabbath. 223 

The streams of blood from the massacre of 
millions of martyrs testify to the fearfulness of 
enforcing church dogmas by civil law. There is 
but one course which may be pursued in safety, 
and that is to follow the plain, simple gospel of 
the New Testament. 



Divine Law and the Sabbath. 225 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Truth Defended. 

When writing to the Philippians, Paul said, 
"I have you on my heart inasmuch as both in 
my bonds and in the defense and confirmation 
of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace." 
In another place he said, "I am set for the de- 
fense of the gospel." Phil. 1 : 7. This is the true 
attitude for every child of God to take toward 
the faith once delivered to the saints. We are not 
to contend with the malice of unrighteousness, 
but we are to stand as witnesses in the defense 
of truth. This is the position we assume in the 
chapter of experience we here present. 

The popular false doctrine is that the ten- 
commandment law was not a national code for 
Israel only, but that all of its precepts have 
been binding in all ages from the foundation of 
the world. Some very talented men teach that 
the decalogue is God's universal code for all 
created intelligent beings — angels and men; 



226 Divine LatP 

that it is the expression of the character of God 
himself; that nothing is taught in the Word of 
God that is not expressed in principle in these 
commandments; that wherever the knowledge 
of sin is said to come by the law, the reference 
is solely to the decalogue; that were it not for 
the law given at Sinai, there would be no sin, 
etc. This view of the subject has been so 
generally advocated and is still so vig- 
orously supported that almost all professed 
Christians willingly believe what is taught on 
the subject. The result is that there exists an 
ever-increasing contention over which day 
should be observed as the sabbath. The truth 
on the subject having been presented in the 
foregoing pages, it will be of interest now to 
note briefly a little church history of modern 
times. 
a Little enure* In recent years there have 
History arisen several sects who, while 

widely differing from each other on many points 
of doctrine agree on this one, that Saturday 
should be observed as sabbath. The most ag- 
gressive of these denominations is that of the 



and the Sabbath. 227 

Seventh-day Adventists. An "offshoot" from 
them is a little scattered sect with conference 
headquarters at Stanberry, Mo. Though this 
denomination has existed through more than 
fifty years, they have accomplished very little. 
A few years ago trouble arose among them 
and caused a little sect to split off. It, too, es- 
tablished itself at Stanberry. A third sect, and 
the oldest observing Saturday as sabbath, is 
the Seventh-day Baptist. Little is ever heard 
of them for obvious reasons. A fourth sect is 
a scattered class of people who have seen the 
folly and unscripturalness of sectarian organiza- 
tion and have therefore come out from sec- 
tarian bondage, but they still keep the sev- 
enth day as sabbath, they believing the 
ten commandments to be the supreme law of 
God. 

These bodies of people with fidelity to their 
faith keep up a continual fight or defense 
against first-day observance, and they are justi- 
fied in their efforts if their doctrines are right. 
All this discussion about days, however, has 
grown out of a misunderstanding of what the 



228 Divine Law 

Bible really teaches regarding the supreme 
law of God, the law given at Mount Sinai, and 
what really constitutes sabbath rest. The light 
which sprang forth from the preaching of the 
apostolic times became almost extinct by the 
errors of the Dark Ages, and the masses be- 
came blinded by superstition. 
The Early Days During this period many cus- 
Reformation. toms were introduced by the 
Roman Catholics, and their doctrines have been 
spread throughout the civilized world. Hav- 
ing controlled in civil and religious affairs for 
many centuries, Catholics became exceedingly 
officious and bigoted. The privilege of read- 
ing the Bible was refused, and not until light 
began to break in upon the darkness through 
the influence of the Reformation was the doc- 
trine of faith made known. For hundreds of 
years it was taught that all the benefits possi- 
ble from religion must be secured by works, 
but in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries such 
men as Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Latimer, and 
others began to preach the doctrine of faith 
in the atoning blood of Christ. , 



and the Sabbath. 229 

At almost the same time a dispute began re- 
garding what day should be observed. In 
England arose a small sect that observed Sat- 
urday, but this sect later became extinct. From 
then until now the question has been agitated 
from time to time, and today it assumes no 
small place in the minds of religious people. 
Rome, seeking to protect her interests, tries to 
prove her authority by maintaining that she 
was instrumental in bringing about the popu- 
lar observance of Sunday as a holy day. Prot- 
estants claim to take the Bible alone as their 
rule of faith. Therefore Rome cites the fact 
that Protestants are not true to their profession 
and publishes in her catechism, from which 
she teaches her children, that if Protestants 
abide by the doctrines of the Bible alone, they 
must keep Saturday, the seventh day of the 
week, instead of Sunday, the first day of the 
week. We quote from "Abridgment of Chris- 
tian Doctrine" (Roman Catholic) : 

"Ques. How prove you that the church 
hath power to command feasts and holy 
days? 



230 Divine Lav> 

"Ans. By the very act of changing the 
sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow 
of; and therefore they fondly contradict them- 
selves by keeping Sunday strictly, and break- 
ing most other feasts commanded by the 
church." 

Many other similar quotations could be taken 
from their works, Here is one from the Roman 
Catholic "Doctrinal Catechism": 

"Ques. Have you any other way of prov- 
ing that the church has power to institute festi- 
vals of precept? 

"Ans. Had she not such power, she could 
not have done that in which all modern religion- 
ists agree with her, — she could not have sub- 
stituted the observance of Sunday, the first 
day of the week, for the observance of Satur- 
day, the seventh day, a change for which there 
is no Scriptural authority." 

catholics Protestants have always been 

Profess to Offer . . 

$1,000 Beward. afraid or this evidence against 
themselves and have never been able to defend 
their position on the doctrine of Sunday sab- 
bath. Therefore the Roman Catholic church 



and the Sabbath. 231 

has waxed very bold. They have challenged 
the Protestant world to produce from the Bi- 
ble a single text showing that Sunday must 
be kept holy, and have offered a thousand-dol- 
lar reward. The above quotations from Catho- 
lic works and the thousand-dollar offer have 
been printed in tracts published by the Seventh- 
day Adventists, and sent throughout the world, 
but no Sunday Protestant, it appears, has ever 
come forward to meet the challenge. 

Since the opening of the Reformation, light 
has continued to shine from the Word of God 
and men have been led out into deeper truths, 
but nothing was definitely established as the 
true church in harmony with the whole Word 
of God until about 1880. From that time 
there has been established in the earth the visi- 
ble body of Christ — his church. (See adver- 
tisement of pamphlet on the church in this 
book.) 
we Defend The church has taken the only 

the Tmth. position on the doctrine re- 

garding the law, covenant, and sabbath, that 
is in harmony with the truth. Literature pub- 



232 Divine Law 

lished by the church has fallen into the hands 
of both Catholics and Protestants. As a re- 
sult, a Seventh-day Adventist living in Cali- 
fornia wrote, in 1896, to Mr. E. E. Byrum, 
who is connected with the publishing interest 
of the church, telling him of the thousand- 
dollar offer made by a Catholic priest, and 
saying that, if Sunday was a day to be kept 
holy and if the saints were in position to de- 
fend such a doctrine, their successful at- 
tempt would be worth one thousand dollars. 
Mr. Byrum promptly answered her letter, ask- 
ing for the name of the priest who had made 
the offer ; whereupon this woman mailed a tract 
in which was published the challenge, together 
with the name and address of the priest — T. 
Enright, of Redemptorist church (Roman 
Catholic), Kansas City, Mo. Mr. Byrum at 
once wrote to Mr. Enright, asking him whether 
he had made the offer and whether he would be 
willing to give the one thousand dollars upon 
furnishment of proof. On April 2, 1 896, Mr. 
Enright, with his own hand, wrote the follow- 
ing letter: 



and the Sabbath. 233 

I fear you have been misin- 
formed. I have always asserted that 
it was the Catholic church that abol- 
ished the Sabbath and all the other 
Jewish festivals, Leviticus 23, and 
appointed the Sunday to be kept 
holy. I have repeatedly offered one 
thousand dollars to any one who can 
prove to me, from the Bible alone, 
that I am bound to keep Sunday 
holy. 

(Signed) T. Enright, Css. R. 

Mr. Byrum immediately accepted the chal- 
lenge and asked Mr. Enright to place the 
money on deposit to be paid upon certified 
proof that the terms had been complied with. 
In reply he received a letter, April 27, 1896, 
reading : 

Your note rec'd. It is not neces- 
sary to place the sum in the bank. It 
is safe where it is. Neither is it nec- 
essary to take an affidavit. I shall 
fulfil my promise. You must prove 
from the Bible alone that I am 
bound to keep Sunday holy. The 



234 Divine Law 

proof must be clear, certain, and un- 
questionable. 

(Signed) T. Enright, Css. R. 

Upon receiving this letter Mr. Byrum wrote 
and called attention to the arrangements he 
had proposed in his former letter and again 
asked Mr. Enright to make affidavit as evi- 
dence of good faith, and to make record of the 
same, upon receipt of which the proof would 
be furnished. Whereupon T. Enright, as might 
be expected, maintained silence and backed 
down from his offer. 
Mr. Byrum Mr. Byrum then wrote to this 

Notifies tlie a i .* . c r* v 

seventn-aay Adventist woman or Cah- 

Adventists. f Qrn j a anc J t0 |J J ier t J ie par- 

ticulars regarding his correspondence with Mr. 
Enright. He also stated the facts in full to 
the Adventist's general publishing-house, which 
was at that time in Battle Creek, Mich., and 
told them that, in honor to themselves and to 
the public, it was due them to recall all such 
offers made by themselves or by Roman Catho- 
lics and to cease publishing T. Enright's offer 
in their tracts. 



and the Sabbath. 235 

At the time of writing this book (1911) 
it was thought best to make sure whether 
Mr. Enright would now stand by his offer and 
to ascertain whether the Adventists were still 
publishing that Mr. Enright was willing to give 
the one thousand dollars. Therefore Mr. By- 
rum wrote to The Review and Herald Pub- 
lishing Co., now at Washington, D. C, and 
asked for the tract containing Mr. Enright's 
statement and thousand-dollar offer. On March 
27, 1911, he received the following letter, 
signed by I. A. Ford, manager of the book 
department : 

Your favor of the 1 5th inst was 
received a few days ago, and I have 
taken the time to look up the propo- 
sition made by Father Enright in 
1892. I find it published in the lit- 
tle tract entitled "From Sabbath to 
Sunday," a copy of which I enclose 
herewith. I also remembered that a 
■ friend of mine, Elder R. W. Par- 
mele, had some conversation with 
Mr. Enright regarding this matter a 
few years ago, so I wrote to him, 



236 Divine Law 

asking him to state to me in writing 
as to whether Mr. Enright confirmed 
this thousand-dollar offer. I have 
just this morning received his reply. 
From this I quote as follows: 

"Yours of March 20th at hand. E. 
E. Franke's tract 'From Sabbath to 
Sunday,' B. S. L. 95, contains the 
Enright offer. ... I still have the 
written offer that he gave me that 
day, — written by himself in my pres- 
ence. It reads as follows: 'Kansas 
City, Mo., June 16, 1899. I hereby 
offer $1,000.00 to any one who can 
prove to me by the Bible alone that 
I am bound under pain of grievous 
sin to keep Sunday holy. (Signed) 
T. Enright, Css. R.' " 

The tract that Mr. Ford enclosed is still 
being published by the Adventist people, and 
it still contains Mr. Enright* s offer. There- 
fore to make doubly sure that we were justi- 
fied in publishing that Mr. Enright would not 
keep his word in this matter and to assure 
ourselves that the Adventists did not mean to 
withdraw a false statement from their pub- 



and the Sabbath. 237 

lished matter, even though they were informed 
that the Enright challenge had been accepted 
by parties and that he had refused to hear 
them, we wrote under date of March 31 , 1911, 
to Mr. Enright as follows: 

My attention has recently been 
called to the fact that you have of- 
fered one thousand dollars to any 
one who can prove from the Bible 
alone that Sunday must be kept holy. 
A few days ago I received a tract 
in which the following purports to 
be a quotation from you: "I have 
repeatedly offered one thousand dol- 
lars to any one who can prove to me 
from the Bible alone that I am 
bound to keep Sunday holy." This 
quotation appears to be a letter from 
your pen, dated January 11, 1892. 
I write to enquire whether this of- 
fer still holds good, and whether it is 
a fact that the Catholic church 
teaches that Sunday observance is a 
command of the Catholic church 
alone. If you still make your offer, I 
shall be pleased to arrange to fur- 



238 Divine Law 

nish my proof that Sunday must be 
kept holy, and furnish such evidence 
from the Bible alone. 

(Signed) L. K. Morgan. 

After a delay of three weeks the following 
was received from the pen of Mr. Enright, 
written in his own hand: 

Your note rec'd. I have offered 
and still offer one thousand dollars 
to any one who can prove to me, 
from the Bible alone, that I am 
bound, under grievous sin, to keep 
Sunday holy. We keep Sunday in 
obedience to the law of the Catho- 
lic church. This law was made long 
after the Bible was written; hence 
said law can not be found in the 
Bible. 

(Signed) T. Enright, Css. R. 

Upon learning from Mr. Enright's person- 
ally written letter, over his own signature, the 
facts that you have now read, the writer 
promptly responded by sending the following 
letter, which still remains unanswered: 



and the Sabbath. 239 

Your letter mailed from Kansas 
City, April 1 8th, is at hand. I note 
that you support the one thousand 
dollar offer to which I referred in 
my letter of March 31st. I now 
call your attention to my statement 
that I am ready to accept your chal- 
lenge and prove from the Bible alone 
that all men are "bound under griev- 
ous sin" to keep Sunday holy; also 
to prove from the Bible alone that 
the Catholic church is not authorized 
of God nor able to make one day 
more holy than another. If you are 
ready to defend your offer to pay 
me the one thousand dollars, pro- 
vided I successfully prove my posi- 
tion, I shall be pleased to receive 
certified evidence that you have de- 
posited the one thousand dollars in 
some reliable bank in Kansas City, 
Mo., payable to the order of L. K. 
Morgan, of Anderson, Ind., and 
your affidavit of good faith that you 
will defend your position, sworn be- 
fore a notary public. The date and 
place for the hearing of our argu- 
ments are to be decided upon later; 



240 Divine LaTV 

said arguments to be heard and 
judged by competent and impartial 
men. 

(Signed) L. K. Morgan. 

Rome has always shown treachery or com- 
plete cowardice. She will make a great noise 
and show for display, but will always take to 
cover rather than yield to truth. Protestant- 
ism represents a class of people that are one 
step removed from Romanism. As a whole, 
they will not come to the light, and hence they 
will finally receive the just fate awaiting those 
who will not go all the way with Jesus. What 
Seventh-day Adventists will do when put to 
the test is now being made evident before the 
world. There was a time when many among 
them, it appeared, were honestly in ignorance 
and were willing to investigate any doctrine of 
their belief and ready to abandon it if found 
to be faulty; but that that time is past is evi- 
dent, as you may note from the following, 
which has, in substance, been published and 
circulated throughout the world, especially in 
Seventh-day Adventist communities : 



and the Sabbath. 241 

seventh-day For more than sixty years the 

Back Down. Seventh-day Adventists have 
urged upon their hearers the importance of 
Saturday sacredness. In October, 1910, they 
held a tent-meeting in Santa Ana, Cal. In 
the course of the meeting they challenged the 
people of that city to prove that Saturday is not 
the sabbath of the Lord and charged the citi- 
zens that were not Saturday-keepers with vio- 
lating the will of God. Also, they announced 
that Sunday-keeping is the "mark of the 
beast." Printed on the face of cards, 4x7 
inches in size, was the following challenge: 

A CHALLENGE TO THE 
PEOPLE OF SANTA ANA. 

1 . The Bible teaches that you must 
keep the Seventh Day Sabbath, 
which is Saturday. 

2. Sunday Keeping came from the 
Papacy, and is the mark of the 
beast— Rev. 14:9-11. God 
holds you responsible to under- 
stand this question. 



242 Divine Law 

The cards bearing this challenge were dis- 
tributed throughout the ctiy of Santa Ana. 
Mr. love Mr. E. C. Love, a minister of 

Accepts S. D. A. 

challenge. Santa Ana, accepted the 

challenge; whereupon Elder E. L. Cardey, 
who issued the challenge, consulted with cer- 
tain of his Adventist friends in the ministry 
and with the organized conference, by whom, 
it is said, he was advised to withdraw his chal- 
lenge. The Adventists having thus declined, 
Mr. Love became bold in his attack on the 
Seventh-day Adventist's doctrine, but they 
gracefully remained silent. How could they 
do otherwise, when, in spite of the fact that 
they say that Sunday-keeping is from the Pa- 
pacy and is a "mark of the beast," we may, 
in their own recent literature, read that Sev- 
enth-day Adventists show their wisdom in giv- 
ing "Sunday to the Lord as a day for doing 
missionary work"? 

How astonishing that this remarkably aggres- 
sive people, who have so strenuously stood for 
Saturday-keeping and have taught Sunday- 
keeping to be "the mark of the beast," should 



and the Sabbath. 243 

now give this "mark of the beast" to the Lord 
— employ the "mark of the beast" in the inter- 
ests of missionary work! No wonder they 
declined to accept such a challenge as was 
made by Mr. Love. 

These facts we have briefly given in order 
that the reader may know that this controversy 
about the keeping of a sabbath-day is, on the 
part of Roman Catholics, Seventh-day Ad- 
ventists, and Protestants, a mere matter of man- 
made doctrine which they foist upon the peo- 
ple without Bible evidence to justify their 
claims. 

Sunday Hot But we should not be misun- 
the saDbatn. derstood by our statement that 
Sunday must be kept holy. Sunday is not a 
sabbath-day, nor do the New Testament Scrip- 
tures enjoin upon man to observe any other day 
in the week as sacred to the worship of God 
above other days, neither is there a command 
in the Old Testament Scriptures enjoining the 
observance of a holy day upon Christians. The 
Scriptures demand holy living every day — all 
days. All employment of time by the Chris- 



244 Divine Larv 

tian on any day, whether his work is secular 
or religious, must be approved of by God and 
wholly acceptable to him. "Without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord." There is, how- 
ever, justifiable reason for observing Sunday as 
a day on which to hold gospel meetings and 
on which those who labor in the common walks 
of life may rest or enjoy profitable recreation. 
This question of Sunday observance we shall 
consider in our closing chapter. 



and the Sabbath. 245 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Right Christian Attitude. 

Protestant religious bodies, though greatly 
divided on other doctrines, seem unanimously 
decided on enforcing better sabbath observ- 
ance. As a result, Sunday is being boosted 
to the pinnacle of sacerdotal sacredness by 
"The Federal Council of Churches of Christ 
in America." From time to time representatives 
of the different religious organizations hold 
meetings in various cities in the interests of bet- 
ter sabbath-Sunday observance. Public no- 
tices requesting prayer for the holy observance 
of Sunday and for the passage of civil laws 
demanding it to be m^de a holy (?) day by 
civil law are published in newspapers through- 
out the country. Laws are being made that 
are more stringent than ever in their demands 
for rest on Sunday. On the other hand, those 
who teach that the decalogue is the supreme 
law of God are preaching and publishing that, 



246 Divine Larv 

unless one observes Saturday as sabbath, one 
incurs the everlasting displeasure of God. 
Therefore, were it not for the plain Bible 
truth on these doctrines, there would be suf- 
ficient cause for doubt regarding what is the 
Christian duty of believers. Let us thank God 
that we are not left to despair on this import- 
ant question. 
Sunday observ- J n previous chapters we have 
catholic origin, briefly mentioned the fact that 
from earliest apostolic days Sunday began to 
be observed as a day upon which to meet. The 
custom received no disapproving counsel from 
the Lord through the writers of the New 
Testament, nor do we find any other day set 
forth by the command of that Prophet of whom 
Moses said, "A prophet shall the Lord your 
God raise up unto you of your brethren like 
unto me; him shall ye hear." In the early days 
of Christianity perfect liberty of conscience 
seems to have been allowed on the question of 
which day should be set apart for church meet- 
ings, and among the churches raised up in 
Gentile countries Sunday was chosen in pref- 



and the Sabbath. 247 

erence to Saturday. From the earliest times 
there have been more converts to the Christian 
faith from among the Gentiles than from among 
the Jews. In consequence, Sunday has come 
to be generally adopted for the day of meet- 
ings. It is a mistaken idea that not until the 
days of the councils of the bishops, or, in 
later centuries, under the Pope of Rome, did 
Sunday observance begin. 

After the church departed from the princi- 
ples of the gospel of Christ, it (the fallen 
church) instigated civil rulers to enact and en- 
force laws enjoining the observance of Sun- 
day. Not until pride caused the Roman Catho- 
lics to vaunt their hate in arrogance against 
the Protestants, who of course did not arise 
till the beginning of the Reformation, did 
Catholics claim to have changed the day of 
worship from Saturday to Sunday. Histori- 
cal proof in support of the fact that Sunday 
had been used as a day for holding regular 
weekly meetings long before the days of Ca- 
tholicism is too well known to demand repeti- 
tion here. The thing we wish to make clear 



248 Divine Law 

to the inquirers who now recognize the truth 
of the gospel — that in the New Testament no 
day is set apart to be observed as sacred — is 
what attitude the Christian should hold in the 
matter toward the civil authorities and the con- 
tending religious bodies. 
The christian's It is evident that God has 

Relation to . . . 

Governments. given his Word to the Chris- 
tian as a rule of faith, and that while the New 
Testament is especially intended for the pres- 
ent dispensation, the basic principles of the Old 
Testament are equally to be regarded. There- 
fore we shall be able to find from the Bible 
alone what our attitude toward all men ought 
to be. 

From Peter's letter we may read: "Dearly 
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pil- 
grims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war 
against the soul ; having your conversation hon- 
est among the Gentiles: that, whereas they 
speak against you as evil-doers, they may by 
your good works, which they shall behold, 
glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit 
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the 



and the Sabbath. 249 

Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as su- 
preme; or unto governors, as unto them that 
are sent by him for the punishment of evil- 
doers, and for the praise of them that do well. 
For so is the will of God, that with well-do- 
ing ye may put to silence the ignorance of 
foolish men : as free, and not using your liberty 
for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants 
of God." 1 Pet. 2: 11-16. The foregoing 
instruction is applicable under any form of 
government. These words were written at 
a time when the church did not have as good 
legal conditions under which to labor as we 
have today. 

Paul also writes: "Let every soul be sub- 
ject unto the higher powers. For there is no 
power but of God: the powers that be are or- 
dained of God. Whosoever therefore resist- 
eth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: 
and they that resist shall receive to themselves 
damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good 
works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be 
afraid of the power? do that which is good, 
and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he 



250 Divine Law 

is the minister of God to thee for good. But 
if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he 
beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the 
minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath 
upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must 
needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also 
for conscience sake. For for this cause pay 
ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, 
attending continually upon this very thing. Ren- 
der therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom 
tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear 
to whom fear; honor to whom honor." Rom. 
13: 1-7. 
our Duty This counsel from Paul has a 

^flvorabio strong bearing upon Christian 
conditions. conduct, which fact we more 

clearly understand when we consider the trials 
and the hardships through which he passed 
while preaching the gospel of salvation under 
unfavorable legal conditions. People are 
sometimes prone to give good counsel when 
things run smoothly and everything is favor- 
able, but under adverse circumstances there is a 
disposition to retract. 



and the Sabbath. 251 

These quotations from the apostles Peter 
and Paul furnish for the church today, as 
well as in all past ages, the right attitude in 
matters of faith, and set forth clearly the rela- 
tion that a believer must hold to government. 
Again, we may read from 1 Pet. 3 : 12-17 
how we ought to do under the most unfavor- 
able circumstances: "For the eyes of the Lord 
are over the righteous, and his ears are open 
unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord 
is against them that do evil. And who is he 
that will harm you, if ye be followers of that 
which is good? But and if ye suffer for right- 
eousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not 
afraid of their terror, neither be troubled: but 
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be 
ready always to give an answer to every man 
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is 
in you with meekness and fear: having a good 
conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of 
you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that 
falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 
For it is better, if the will of God be so, that 
ye suffer for well-doing, than for evil-doing." 



252 Divine Law 

let Babylon While the Federal Council 

Make Her . 

own Laws. or Churches or Christ m 
America call upon the civil government to en- 
act laws regulating religious observance of Sun- 
day, it becomes our business as members of 
the body of Christ to preach the gospel by pre- 
cept and example. It is our duty to set forth 
the duties concerning Christian living and to 
show plainly that righteousness is not the ob- 
servance of times and seasons. The church has 
no business with legal matters, nor should it 
meddle with the laws of the land in order to 
have such bills passed as would cause men 
to do otherwise in religious matters than their 
consciences dictate. Let the Protestant de- 
nominations clamor for civil righteousness, if 
they wish, our business is to preach gospel 
righteousness by faith. Ever since the days of 
ancient Babylon civil laws enforcing religious 
customs have been enacted. While civil law 
is indispensable in its place, we know that 
righteousness is not by law, whether Jew- 
ish law of the old dispensation or the civil law 
of some modern nation. The message today 



and the Sabbath. 253 

is to come out of confusion and to stand with 
the visible body of Christ. 

The preaching of a full gospel salvation will 
save men who believe it and continuance in 
obedience thereto will keep men pure and holy 
under the most trying circumstances. While 
seventh-day keepers teach false doctrines re- 
garding God's law and bring conscientious peo- 
ple under bondage, the Christian should do all 
he possibly can to break the yoke by present- 
ing the pure truths of the Word of God in the 
spirit of love. We should not enter into un- 
christian controversy; but, speaking the truth 
in love, we should manifest by an upright walk 
and a godly conversation that God is indeed 
ruling and reigning over every opposition and 
power of darkness. If Seventh-day Advent- 
ists wish to fight those who are observing Sun- 
day, it is their privilege to do so. This fight 
over days will, no doubt, continue to the end 
of time. Our attitude should be the same as 
that expressed by Paul: "Let no man 
judge you in meat, or in drink, or in re- 
spect of an holy day, or of the new moon, 



254 Divine Laro 

or of the sabbath-days; for the body is of 
Christ." 
let no Man The devil will seek by every 
juagre you. possible means to entangle 

God's people on this question. In writing to 
Timothy, Paul says that "the end [or object] 
of the commandment [or charge] is charity 
[love] out of a pure heart, and of a good con- 
science, and of faith unfeigned, from which 
some having swerved have turned aside unto 
vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the 
law, understanding neither what they say, nor 
whereof they affirm." This is the sad condi- 
tion into which both Sunday and Seventh-day 
Protestants have fallen — those who still con- 
tend for the old custom of Saturday-sabbath 
keeping and those who contend for the new 
custom of Sunday-sabbath keeping. Neither 
party manifests love; while both parties con- 
tend one against the other. Condemnation 
can not rest upon the man who understandingly 
worships God upon either day, but the Chris- 
tian should not allow himself to be brought 
into bondage to the keeping of a day. "Where- 



and the Sabbath. 255 

fore speak thou the things which become sound 
doctrine," "in all thing showing thyself a pat- 
tern of good works: in doctrine showing un- 
corruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, 
that can not be condemned; that he that is of 
the contrary part may be ashamed, having no 
evil thing to say of you." Amen. 



The Church of God 

or, 

What is the Church 
And What is Not 

By D. S. Warner 

A compilation of Scriptural passages showing what 
constitutes the church of God, when it was built, wh< 
are members, who organizes the church, etc. 

The difference between the true church of God and the 
numerous religious denominations of today is explained. 
Twelve instances are given where the title "church of 
God" is used in the New Testament. 

Some of the Chapter Headings Are: 

What is the Door of the Church? 
Who Takes Members into the Church? 
How Many Churches Has liod? 
Does the Bible Teach the Unity of All 

Believers? 
What is the Bond of Union? 

Every position taken by the author is sustained by 
quotations of Scripture. To all who are interested in 
knowing what constitutes the church of God, this 32- 
page booklet will be of great value. Should be widely 
circulated. 

Price 5c each. 40c a dozen, prepaid 
GOSPEL TRUMPET CO. Anderson, Ind. 



FEB 26 1912 



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